Semantic holism

 

 

Brian introduced this link to a discussion about Wittgenstein and Rorty - the link is from Wikipedia

Semantic holism is a theory in the philosophy of language to the effect that a certain part of language, be it a term or a complete sentence, can only be understood through its relations to a (previously understood) larger segment of language. There is substantial controversy, however, as to exactly what the larger segment of language in question consists of. In recent years, the debate surrounding semantic holism, which is one among the many forms of holism that are debated and discussed in contemporary philosophy, has tended to centre on the view that the "whole" in question consists of an entire language. 

From the first sentence, I see links to later Wittgenstein - but the second debate moves beyond the territory that is relevant to my thinking in this blog - it is a debate that does not fit within his theory of meaning - not a helpful debate to the lay person.