Symbole niesamodzielne i retoryka. Rozważania na marginesie logicznej i retorycznej analizy wyrażeń typu etyka słowa
Dependent symbols and rhetoric. Discussions on the margin of the logical and rhetorical analysis of expressions such as ethics of the word

Summary/Abstract: Expressions such ethics of the word belong, according to the theory of descriptions by Sir Bertrand Russell, to the so-called incomplete symbols. This does not change the fact that they are frequently used both in everyday language, which is not surprising, and in the language of science, which is a serious shortcoming. This discussion is an attempt to analyse this type of expressions in two ways and demonstrate the related diffi culties. The basic ones involve the determination of designatum of expressions; yet equally serious diffi culties are related to the fact that their elliptic nature causes semantic diffi culties, and the trouble with the designatum makes the semantic scope of an expression unclear. However, one could ask whether such a conduct is appropriate if the intuitive understanding of such expressions causes no serious trouble. The author believes, however, that there are considerable diffi culties in determining, among others, the semantic scope of expressions such as ethics of the word, methods of qualifying other expressions as, for instance, ones violating the principles set with phrases such as ethics of the word, etc., at the level of the so-called intuitive understanding. The general question is one about the applicability of the tools of the theory of rhetoric to solve the identifi ed logical problems. This paper is an attempt to present a solution to the indicated problems.

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