elisa freschiIs anything at all understood out of false sentences? – elisa freschi https://elisafreschi.com These pages are a sort of virtual desktop of Elisa Freschi. You can find here my cv and some random thoughts on Sanskrit (and) Philosophy. All criticism welcome! Contributions are also welcome! Wed, 22 Apr 2026 19:06:15 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Is anything at all understood out of false sentences? https://elisafreschi.com/2017/11/20/is-anything-at-all-understood-out-of-false-sentences/ https://elisafreschi.com/2017/11/20/is-anything-at-all-understood-out-of-false-sentences/#comments Mon, 20 Nov 2017 14:44:23 +0000 elisa freschi http://elisafreschi.com/?p=2616 Before answering that you do obviously understand something out of false sentences, too, consider that this would lead to:

—distinguishing between understanding the meaning of a sentence and knowing it to be true

—assuming a non-committal understanding of the meaning of a sentence

—understanding fitness as a requirement for the sentence meaning (yogyatā) as limited to the lack of obvious inconsistencies and not as regarding truth

—(possibly) assuming that the meaning of a sentence is not an entity out there (since there is no out-there entity in the case of false sentences), but rather a mental one

 

If you are now inclined to say that Indian authors on a whole could not answer yes to the question in the title, read the following sentence by Veṅkaṭanātha:

śaśaviṣāṇavākyād api bodho jāyata eva

Also out of the sentence claiming that hares have horns (e.g., out of an obviously false sentence), an awareness does indeed arise (SM ad 1.1.25, 1971 edition p. 114).

 

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