...provided we could define all terms. But this is impossible... We thus see that all linguistic schemes, if analyzed far enough, would depend on undefined terms.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- All linguistic systems must eventually rely on undefined terms, making complete definition impossible.
- In plain terms
- You cannot define every word because some terms must stay undefined.
- What can you take from it?
- Accept that some foundational concepts cannot be fully defined.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What basics do you accept without definition?
- Why is definition hard?
Another view
Some systems attempt to reduce definitions to axioms.
More from Alfred Korzybski
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