"Because they cannot be known, they can only be described." - Lao Zu
Just as the content of music must be given in its relation to silences, so the meaning of statements must be given in relation to the unspoken meaning behind it, pertaining to both the possibilities within which it is conceived, as well as the contexts though which it is understood.
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So the content and structure of meaning is given through expressing it's relation to the totality of what it is not, as well as what is not thinkable. By thinking the unthinkable, we can understand thought.
Less pessimistically, our use of thought contains within it an understanding of the unthinkable.
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A finite conception of the totality of these possibilities is contained within culture, which expresses a view of what these might consist. Hence paradigm shifts may occur that rejig the notion of these possibilities.
From a philosophical standpoint, culture constitutes a way of contextualising epistemic possibilities in relation to our current understanding of the world.
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