ABSTRACT

Among the many methodological issues which never receive sustained and individualized treatment from Moore is the issue of meaning. This is most regrettable, since Moore’s concern with meaning is by far one of his most vexing concerns. Like Augustine, Moore holds that the function of substantival expressions is to name or refer to material objects. One of the things Moore means when he says that people understand the meaning of a particular word, therefore, is that they can individuate the material objects that might be named or referred to by that word. The second class of entities whose members are seen by Moore as the referents or ordinary meaning of verbal expressions is the class of concepts. The third class of entities whose members are seen by Moore as the referents of certain verbal expressions is the class of propositions.