Single Idea 23205

[catalogued under 19. Language / D. Propositions / 1. Propositions]

Full Idea

A thought in the shape in which it comes is an ambiguous sign that needs interpretation, more precisely, needs an arbitrary narrowing-down and limitation, until it finally becomes unambiguous.

Gist of Idea

Thought starts as ambiguity, in need of interpretation and narrowing

Source

Friedrich Nietzsche (Unpublished Notebooks 1885-86 [1886], 38[01])

Book Reference

Nietzsche,Friedrich: 'Fragments from 1885-86 (v 16)', ed/tr. Del Caro,Adrian [Stanford 2020], p.155


A Reaction

This is exactly my view of propositions, as mental events. Introspect your thinking process. Track the progress from the first glimmer of a thought to its formulation in a finished sentence. Language, unlike propositions, can be ambiguous.

Related Idea

Idea 9133 Propositions are what settle problems of ambiguity in sentences [Sorensen]