The content believed may or may not be expressed in words. Let us
take first the case when it is not. In that case, if we are merely
remembering that something of which we now have an image occurred,
the content consists of (a) the image, (b) the feeling, analogous
to respect, which we translate by saying that something is "real" as
opposed to "imaginary," (c) a relation between the image and the feeling
of reality, of the sort expressed when we say that the feeling refers
to the image. This content does not contain in itself any
time-determination.
The time-determination lies in the nature of the belief feeling, which
is that called "remembering" or (better) "recollecting." It is only
subsequent reflection upon this reference to the past that makes us
realize the distinction between the image and the event recollected.
When we have made this distinction, we can say that the image "means"
the past event.
The content expressed in words is best represented by the words "the
existence of this," since these words do not involve tense, which
belongs to the belief-feeling, not to the content. Here "this" is
a vague term, covering the memory-image and anything very like it,
including its prototype. "Existence" expresses the feeling of a
"reality" aroused primarily by whatever can have effects upon us without
our voluntary co-operation. The word "of" in the phrase "the existence
of this" represents the relation which subsists between the feeling of
reality and the "this."
This analysis of memory is probably extremely faulty, but I do not know
how to improve it.
NOTE.-When I speak of a FEELING of belief, I use the word "feeling" in
a popular sense, to cover a sensation or an image or a complex of
sensations or images or both; I use this word because I do not wish to
commit myself to any special analysis of the belief-feeling.
LECTURE X. WORDS AND MEANING
The problem with which we shall be concerned in this lecture is the
problem of determining what is the relation called "meaning." The word
"Napoleon," we say, "means" a certain person. In saying this, we are
asserting a relation between the word "Napoleon" and the person so
designated. It is this relation that we must now investigate.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account