Meaning, Expression and Thought
Part of Cambridge Studies in Philosophy
- Author: Wayne A. Davis, Georgetown University, Washington DC
- Date Published: August 2007
- availability: Available
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9780521039048
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This philosophical treatise on the foundations of semantics is a systematic effort to clarify, deepen and defend the classical doctrine that words are conventional signs of mental states, principally thoughts and ideas, and that meaning consists in their expression. This expression theory of meaning is developed by carrying out the Gricean programme, explaining what it is for words to have meaning in terms of speaker meaning, and what it is for a speaker to mean something in terms of intention. But Grice's own formulations are rejected and alternatives developed. The foundations of the expression theory are explored at length, and the author develops the theory of thought as a fundamental cognitive phenomenon distinct from belief and desire, argues for the thesis that thoughts have parts, and identifies ideas or concepts with parts of thoughts. This book will appeal to students and professionals interested in the philosophy of language.
Read more- Offers a critical assessment of the Gricean program
- Develops the theory of thought as a fundamental cognitive phenomenon distinct from belief and desire
- Provides a philosophical theory of language and its use based on the notion that meaning is to be analysed in terms of mental states
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×Product details
- Date Published: August 2007
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9780521039048
- length: 676 pages
- dimensions: 228 x 152 x 37 mm
- weight: 0.99kg
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
Preface
1. Introduction
Part I. Semantic Acts and Intentions:
2. Speaker meaning
3. Expression
4. Alternative analyses
5. Communication
6. Reference
Part II. Languages and Semantic Acts:
7. Languages
8. Basic word meaning
9. Conventions
10. Compositional word meaning
11. Living languages
Part III. Thoughts and Ideas:
12. Thought
13. Sentences, propositions and thoughts
14. The constituency thesis
15. Ideas or concepts
16. The possession of concepts
17. The acquisition of concepts
18. The association of ideas
19. Objects, images and conceptions
20. The language of thought hypothesis
Part IV. Ideational Theories of Meaning:
21. Objections to ideational theories
22. Priority objections
23. Incompleteness objections
References
Index.
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