John Hospers (in Meaning and Truth in the Arts (University of North Carolina Press, 1946) p.76) wrote:
No word has meaning … in itself; it has no meaning until it is given meaning by someone; lacking this, it is simply a row of marks on paper or uttered sounds. Most of the words in our language have been given meanings long ago, and this meaning has been agreed upon by the users of our language, so that the words have come by convention to stand for the things they now stand for, and all we have to do is learn them. Many words have several meanings … and are called ambiguous words–in these cases we learn their multiple meanings; this is true of the word “meaning” along with thousands of other words. This word has a meaning when applied in such situations as “meaning of a word,” “meaning of his behavior,” etc. But just as words do not always have the same meaning in different contexts (as we have just seen in. the case of the word “meaning” itself), there are contexts in which it has no meaning until it is given a meaning for that context. Thus, as we now use the word “on,” the statement “The glass is on the table” has meaning but “The glass is on the universe” does not; the word “on” has been given meaning only within a certain physical context, and when it is not applied within that context it becomes simply a sound or mark on paper. The same is true for the word “meaning.” It has a definite meaning … in the ordinary situations referred to above, but when applied to a situation such as “What does this piece of music mean? it does not, since the word “meaning” has been given no meaning in that context.
What is the conclusion of Hospers’ argument here? Carefully formulate his argument for this conclusion.
Here are some guidelines:
The argument should be carefully and completely laid out.
Premises and conclusion should be clearly identified. (See “Identifying and Formulating Arguments”)
Any common valid argument forms should be clearly identified.
The paper should include clarification of positions, distinctions, premises, and arguments.
Note that I am not asking for a summary of the passage. I am asking for a formulation of the argument.