The Socratic Approach to Semantic Incompleteness

Abstract

THE SOCRATES OF PLATO'S EARLY DIALOGUES OBSERVES A STRANGERULE FOR ADJECTIVES EVEN WHEN THEY SEEM TO MEAN DIFFERENTTHINGS IN DIFFERENT CONTEXTS. HE INSISTS THAT EVERYTHING TOWHICH AN ADJECTIVE IS CORRECTLY APPLIED HAS A CERTAINCHARACTER, THE SAME IN ALL CONTEXTS. SOCRATES DOES THIS TOGUARANTEE THE USEFULNESS OF EVALUATIVE STATEMENTS, SO THATTRUE ONES CAN DETERMINE PRACTICAL ETHICAL CHOICES. PLATOINHERITS THE RULE, WITH CONSEQUENCES FOR HIS METAPHYSICS.IF THE MEANING OF EACH PREDICATE IS GIVEN BY A SINGLECHARACTER, THEN THE VAGUENESS OF WHAT WE WOULD CALLCONTEXTUALLY VAGUE SENTENCES MUST BE DUE TO THE INADEQUACYOF THINGS THE SENTENCES ARE ABOUT.