Meaning Theories

The problem of meaning

When analyzing words and their meaning, one must take into consideration, what is being referred to when wie say we know the meaning of a word. Defining a word, means using other words, to convey a purpose or an idea. This can be problematic, and what we referred to in tok class as the problem of meaning. In our search for knowledge, we often use language to define various statements or suggestions as true or false. When utilized to describe and convey knowledge to another person. That is the main purpose of language, yet words and their meaning are subjective, and therefore can have a great inaccuracy and specificity. A meaning of a word is accepted when everybody understands and accepts the same concept for the same word. So, as long as the participants of one language do not accept a word to mean the same thing as the other people that speak that language, it is not considered the meaning of the word. Still, words and their meanings are very ambiguous and leave a lot of room for misunderstandings. Because they are so subjective and convey a different thing to many people, words are open to different interpretations and ways of viewing.There are a few different ways that meaning is defined, and these possibilities include meaning as a definition, meaning as denotation and meaning as an imagine. These three concepts refer to the way that we provide meaning to a word. Meaning as a definition is the simplest one, as it is a written down explanation of something, that is present in a dictionary, and therefore accepted by everyone, or atleast widespread. The second type of meaning, is called the denotative meaning, which once again is the set meaning of a word, set in contrast to the idea of connotation, or its figurative or associated meanings. Lastly, the idea of meaning and imagery, is more related to personal, biased perception of a word. It refers to the imagery created in a persons mind when hearing a word, and what image he or she directly associates to the word. For example, many would associate the word red with anger, or a heart etc, and paint this scenario in their minds, creating meaning to it, as an image.