Meaning (philosophy of language)

About: Meaning (philosophy of language) is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 4308 publications have been published within this topic receiving 137887 citations.

The Measurement of Meaning

Abstract: In this pioneering study, the authors deal with the nature and theory of meaning and present a new, objective method for its measurement which they call the semantic differential. This instrument is not a specific test, but rather a general technique of measurement that can be adapted to a wide variety of problems in such areas as clinical psychology, social psychology, linguistics, mass communications, esthetics, and political science. The core of the book is the authors' description, application, and evaluation of this important tool and its far-reaching implications for empirical research.

Speech Acts: An Essay in the Philosophy of Language

Abstract: Part I. A Theory of Speech Acts: 1. Methods and scope 2. Expressions, meaning and speech acts 3. The structure of illocutionary acts 4. Reference as a speech act 5. Predication Part II. Some Applications of the Theory: 6. Three fallacies in contemporary philosophy 7. Problems of reference 8. Deriving 'ought' from 'is' Index.

The Construction of Social Reality

Abstract: This short treatise looks at how we construct a social reality from our sense impressions; at how, for example, we construct a five-pound note with all that implies in terms of value and social meaning, from the printed piece of paper we see and touch. In "The Construction of Social Reality," eminent philosopher John Searle examines the structure of social reality (or those portions of the world that are facts only by human agreement, such as money, marriage, property, and government), and contrasts it to a brute reality that is independent of human agreement. Searle shows that brute reality provides the indisputable foundation for all social reality, and that social reality, while very real, is maintained by nothing more than custom and habit."

The Public and its Problems

Abstract: In The Public and Its Problems, a classic of social and political philosophy, John Dewey exhibits his strong faith in the potential of human intelligence to solve the public's problems. In his characteristic provocative style, Dewey clarifies the meaning and implications of such concepts as "the public," "the state," "government," and "political democracy." He distinguishes his a posterior reasoning from a priori reasoning, which, he argues permeates less meaningful discussion of basic concepts. Dewey repeatedly demonstrates the interrelationships between fact and theory.

Knowledge and Human Interests

Abstract: Preface. Translatora s Note. Part I: The Crisis of the Critique of Knowledge. 1. Hegela s Critique of Kant:. Radicalization or Abolition of the Theory of Knowledge. 2. Marxa s Metacritique of Hegel:. Synthesis Through Social Labour. 3. The Idea of the Theory of Knowledge as Social Theory. Part II: Positivism, Pragmatism, Historicism. 4. Comte and Mach: . The Intention of Early Positivism. 5. Peircea s Logic of Inquiry:. The Dilemma of a Scholastic Realism Restored by the Logic of Language. 6. The Self--Reflection of the Natural Sciences:. The Pragmatist Critique of Meaning. 7. Diltheya s Theory of Understanding Expression:. Ego Identity and Linguistic Communication. 8. The Self--Reflection of the Cultural Sciences:. The Historicist Critique of Meaning. Part III: Critique as the Unity of Knowledge and Interest. 9. Reason and Interest:. Retrospect on Kant and Fichte. 10. Self--Reflection as Science:. Freuda s Psychoanalytic Critique of Meaning. 11. The Scientistic Self--misunderstanding of Meta--psychology: . On the Logic of General Interpretation. 12. Psychoanalysis and Social Theory:. Nieqzschea s Reduction of Cognitive Interests. Appendix. Knowledge and Human Interests: A General Perspective. Jurgen Habermas: A Postscript. Index.