"We suppose, it would seem, that concepts grow in the individual mind like leaves on a tree, and we think to discover their nature by studying their growth; we seek to define them psychologically, in terms of the human mind. But this account makes everything subjective, and if we follow it through to the end, does away with truth. What is known as the history of concepts is really a history either of our knowledge of concepts or of the meanings of words."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Translation J. L. Austin (Oxford, 1950) as quoted by Stephen Toulmin, Human Understanding: The Collective Use and Evolution of Concepts (1972) Vol. 1, p. 56.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gottlob_Frege
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Related Quotes
"'Facts, facts, facts,' cries the scientist if he wants to emphasize the necessity of a firm foundation for science. W…"
"It really is worth the trouble to invent a new symbol if we can thus remove not a few logical difficulties and ensure…"
"A judgment, for me is not the mere grasping of a thought, but the admission of its truth."
"Ein Philosoph, der keine Beziehung zur Geometrie hat, ist nur ein halber Philosoph, und ein Mathematiker, der keine p…"
"If the task of philosophy is to break the domination of words over the human mind [...], then my concept notation, be…"
"This ideography is a "formula language", that is, a lingua characterica, a language written with special symbols, "fo…"
"I hope I may claim in the present work to have made it probable that the laws of arithmetic are analytic judgments an…"
"Nur im Zusammenhange eines Satzes bedeuten die Wörter etwas. Es wird also darauf ankommen, den Sinn eines Satzes zu e…"
"Your discovery of the contradiction caused me the greatest surprise and, I would almost say, consternation, since it …"
"If I compare arithmetic with a tree that unfolds upward into a multitude of techniques and theorems while its root dr…"