Philosophers sometimes use the word transcendental to describe truths that are necessary preconditions for other things to exist. For example, logic is a transcendental requirement for reasoning, without it, thought collapses into nonsense.
Language—words themselves—depend on certain transcendent realities that point us beyond materialism, and ultimately to God.
1 . Words Depend on Logic
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Every word assumes the law of identity (a word must mean what it means).
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Without the law of non-contradiction, words collapse into nonsense.
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Logic is not material or invented—it’s universal and necessary.
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If words presuppose logic, and logic presupposes a rational source, then every word assumes God.
2. Words Depend on Shared Meaning
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Language only works if meaning is real, objective, and accessible to more than one mind.
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If everything were just subjective brain-noise, words could never communicate truth.
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Shared intelligibility suggests a higher ground for meaning than individual minds.
“Spoken words are the symbols of mental experience, and written words are the symbols of spoken words… but what these are signs of—the affections of the soul—are the same for all.”— Aristotle
3. Words Depend on Order in Reality
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Language describes the world because the world is ordered and intelligible.
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If the universe were pure chaos, words would be impossible.
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Intelligibility points beyond brute matter to an ultimate Logos.