Meaning arises from relations of difference between terms

Evidence

Reciprocity. No thing or event has a fixed, intrinsic meaning; its meaning only emerges through interaction with other things or events. This is equally true of the particular items within any cultural system, of the individual’s relationship to any given piece of culture, and of the individual’s actions in society. … A fundamental circularity is involved in all cultural systems. No legal precept is valid in itself, but only in relation to other legal precepts. A line has no intrinsic length; it can be measured only by comparing it with another line. The validity of any scientific or philosophic proposition depends on its relation to another proposition, the validity of which ultimately depends on the first. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 72 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Différance produces meaning through a weave of differences, not binaries; Meaning arises from articulating linguistic systems rather than reflecting the world; Language enables meanings rather than passively carrying them (+8 more)

Related

• Meaning in culture emerges only through interaction with other elements (similarity 0.89)
• Meaning arises from interdependence in difference, not from data or content. (similarity 0.84)
• Decoded meanings, not messages, are what produce effects (similarity 0.83)
• Meaning arises from articulating linguistic systems rather than reflecting the world (similarity 0.80)
• Society and literary culture can only be studied together (similarity 0.80)
• Difference is a generative relationship, not a fixed property of things (similarity 0.80)
• Connotation is where visual signs acquire ideology by intersecting with cultural meaning structures. (similarity 0.79)
• Meaning arises from relations between differences, not content resemblance (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Meaning arises from articulating linguistic systems rather than reflecting the world #expands (0.95)
• Meaning in culture emerges only through interaction with other elements #exemplifies (0.90) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 72
• Language enables meanings rather than passively carrying them #corroborates (0.82)
• Identity is formed through contrast with difference #expands (0.78)
• Specific meaning arises only from an arbitrary contingent break #expands (0.72)
• Decentering the subject displaces humanity from the origin of meaning #expands (0.72)