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    Carmelics

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Home/Original/inverse
    See Original
    Inverse View

    It is not the case that If 'water' means H2O even for speakers ignorant of chemistry, then meanings are partly constituted by external factors, not internal instructions alone.

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Internal instructions (concepts, associations, usage rules) fully determine what speakers mean by 'water' regardless of environment.
      ?

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    • 2.External reference relations are effects of meaning, not constitutive of it—meaning generates reference, not vice versa.
      ?

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    • 3.Ignorant speakers don't truly mean H2O specifically; they mean 'whatever stuff experts call water,' which is internally determined.
      ?

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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Twin Earth thought experiments show identical internal states can have different referents based on external environment alone.
      ?

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    • 2.Speakers correctly use 'water' to refer to H2O despite being entirely ignorant of its chemical composition.
      ?

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    • 3.Meaning cannot be fully constituted by internal mental content if that content is compatible with multiple external referents.
      ?

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