Reflection and Meaning

As has been previously discussed, 'reflection' literally means 'bending back'. Accordingly, insofar as any object exhibits some modification, it reflects the cause of that modification. Hence, in any communication, an utterance reflects its utterer, the process of its being uttered, and the purpose of the utterance. For, all contribute to the modification of a medium, e. g. to the transition of silence to sound, or, to the filling of a blank page with characters. In other words, an utterance signifies its utterer, its uttering, and its purpose, so the latter are all parts of its meaning. As has been also previously discussed, Dewey's notion 'Expression' is more accurately 'Reflection', so insofar as any Wittgensteinian 'Use' of Language presupposes its Expressiveness, it presupposes a Reflection of a user, a using, and a purpose. Furthermore, in his Semiotic, an effect is the type of Sign of its cause that Peirce classifies as 'Index'. So, though, his primary interest in Language is how it can function as a 'Symbol', i. e. as a generalized Sign, all Language is Indexical. Now, according to the Reflection theory of Meaning, a Meaning of an utterance is a reflection of what the utterer intends via it, which can entail any or all of Sense, Reference, Expression, or Use, the bases of traditional theories of Meaning. Hence it accommodates these other theories, while uniquely, apparently, explaining neologic or stipulated Meaning.