Philosophy 158 Externalism about the Mind

Asst. Prof James Pryor Dept. of Philosophy

The Meaning of 'Meaning'

1. Putnam argues that the following two assumptions can not both be satisfied by any single notion of "meaning":

   Assumption 1. Knowing the meaning of a word is just a matter of being in a certain psychological state.

   Assumption 2. The meaning of a word determines the word's extension.

   What does Putnam mean in these assumptions by "a psychological state"? (Hint: what is "methodological solipsism"?)

2. Putnam's argument that Oscar1's term "water" and Oscar2's term "water" have different extensions even though Oscar1 and Oscar2 are in the same psychological state depends on the assumption that the extension of "water" on Earth in 1750 is the same as the extension of "water" on Earth in 1950 (when the extension is clearly H20). Exactly how does it depend on this assumption? What can be said in favor of the assumption? (See also Putnam's discussion of Archimedes and "gold.")

3. What does the slogan "meanings just ain't in the head" mean? If one wanted to extend the thought-experiments to show that beliefs "just ain't in the head," either, then what would one have to do differently?

4. Explain what Putnam means by "the division of linguistic labor." What sorts of terms do you think such an account is plausible for? What ones do you think it's implausible for?

5. What is a "rigid" term? Explain why Putnam thinks that terms like "water" are rigid. What is an "indexical" term? Explain why Putnam thinks that terms like "water" have an indexical component.

6. Give some examples of situations which are, on the one hand (i) conceivable or epistemologically possible or could have "turned out" to be true, but which at the same time (ii) are metaphysically impossible (that is, there is no possible world in which the situations obtain).