Notion of semantic hookup is problematic
Searle thinks semantics only arises when symbols are given meaning by being hooked up to the world. But many traditional puzzles show that merely syntactic use of language and symbols can generate linguistic competence with no semantic hookup.
Searle thinks that semantics only arises when symbols are given meaning by being hooked up to the world in an appropriate way. But this notion of semantic hookup, and Searle's notion of the meaningful symbol, is problematic. Many traditional puzzles show that merely syntactic use of language and symbols is enough to generate linguistic competence, even when there is no recognisable semantic hookup.
Richard Sharvy, 1983.