Knowledge Quotes

"Words acquire their meaning through their role in human practices."

"Every statement about the world involves a presupposition about logic."

"Causation is not a relation we observe; it is a structure of our understanding."

"Reference is not a simple relation between words and things."

"A good definition reveals the nature of a thing, not merely its name."

"Meaning cannot be determined by mental states alone."

"Modal logic reveals depths in ordinary discourse that few notice."

"Names have histories; their meanings are not fixed in eternity."

"The logical form of a statement may be hidden by its grammatical form."

"Language both reveals and conceals the nature of reality."

"The verb 'exist' does not function like ordinary predicates."

"Words change their meanings over time but retain core functions."

"Univocal meaning is rare; equivocation is the norm in discourse."

"Intentionality is the mark of mental phenomena and thought."

"Language is public; private meanings are logical impossibilities."

"The predicable relations between things structure our understanding."

"Ordinary language often embeds philosophical wisdom."

"Words carry the weight of tradition; we inherit meaning as we inherit language."

"Meaning is determined by use within a linguistic community."

"Understanding others requires understanding their conceptual frameworks."

"Words are not transparent; they require careful interpretation."

"To understand causation, we must first understand counterfactuals."

"Propositions are abstract objects, but sentences are concrete things."

"Properties are patterns in the world, not additions to it."

"We must be careful to distinguish properties from relations."

"Abstract objects exist, but they are causally inert."

"Classes are useful fictions, sometimes nothing more."

"We carve the world at its joints, not arbitrarily."

"Properties form a hierarchy of fundamentality."

"Convention governs which objects we recognize as natural kinds."