Theory of Knowledge: Language

‘Fully Explain which theory of meaning you think best explains the relationship between words and meanings’
The image theory, or the language theory which associates the meaning of words in the language to mental images in order to create the best definition where we can try to explain the definition of the word. In this image theory we know the definition of the word when we can attain a mental image of the word, or when we can associate the/a concept which is connected to the word. Some of these examples where we can justify the definiton/meanings of words by associating them to a mental image or the concept are shown below:
- Concept connection:
o Justice, we can define justice as we would link it to the concept of justice where a wrong-doer (criminal) is brought to justice and is forced to face a consequence for his act of wronging
- Mental image association:
o With an animal, (e.g. cat), we could picture a cat, as a furry small animal that has sharp claws and often kept as common house-pets
However with this theory there are its criticisms and how the image-theory can not be applied unversally, as the concepts and mental images can’t be explicitly told to another person and that person understands it. Thus although we may understand the person who we explain to may not be able to catch hold of how we define the word.
Why i think this image-definiton theory is the best out of the 4 theories (inclusive of, know-how, definition, and denotation theory). Is that although the criticism of the image theory is that it is not explicit enough for others, it is explicit for those who are thinking and associating the concept and/or a mental image of the word to the definition.