The Meaning-Sharing Network
Hortues Semioticus 6:17-30 (2010)
| Abstract | We advocate an analysis of meaning that departs from the pragmatic slogan that “meaning is use”. However, in order to avoid common missteps, this claim is in dire need of qualification. We argue that linguistic meaning does not originate from language use as such; therefore we cannot base a theory of meaning only on use. It is important not to neglect the fact that language is ultimately reliant on non-linguistic factors. This might seem to oppose the aforementioned slogan, but it will be made clear how this opposition is chimerical. We propose that meaning traces back to the relation between subjectivity and intersubjectivity, which is at the heart of the matter by inducing strong interdependency between intention and interpretation. But to base a full-fledged analysis of meaning in communicative dyads alone is also insufficient. What needs to be further acknowledged is that meaning sharing becomes regulated by the interactions of a community. This we call consensus and it is at play in framing all communicative acts. Hence arises a triadic structure – we call this the meaningsharing network. The main motivation behind this model is to capture that meaning is not “in the head”, nor is it autonomous of the individual members that constitute it. | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
  |
| External links |
 Try with proxy. |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesAdrienne Lehrer (1970). Theory of Meaning. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.,Prentice-Hall.
Stephen Schiffer (2013). Meaning In Speech and In Thought. Philosophical Quarterly 63 (250):141-159.
John Gibson (2006). Interpreting Words, Interpreting Worlds. Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 64 (4):439–450.
Mark Risjord (1996). Meaning, Belief, and Language Acquisition. Philosophical Psychology 9 (4):465-475.
Jeff Speaks (2009). Introduction, Transmission, and the Foundations of Meaning. In Sarah Sawyer (ed.), New Waves in Philosophy of Language. Palgrave Macmillan.
Robert C. Cummins & Martin Roth (forthcoming). Meaning and Content in Cognitive Science. In Richard Schantz (ed.), Prospects for Meaning. de Gruyter.
C. J. L. Talmage (1994). Literal Meaning, Conventional Meaning and First Meaning. Erkenntnis 40 (2):213 - 225.
Stephen R. Schiffer (1972). Meaning. Oxford,Clarendon Press.
Peter Mott (1995). Towards a Winograd/Flores Semantics. Minds and Machines 5 (1):69-87.
Daniel Whiting (2009). On Epistemic Conceptions of Meaning: Use, Meaning and Normativity. European Journal of Philosophy 17 (3):416-434.
H. G. Callaway (2008). Sense and Mode of Presentation. In H. G. Callaway (ed.), Meaning without Analyticity.
Abdur Razzaque (1996). The Theory of Meaning. Philosophy in the Contemporary World 3 (3):24-28.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2012-03-05Total downloads7 ( #133,587 of 549,533 )Recent downloads (6 months)6 ( #12,444 of 549,533 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
