Saturday, February 15, 2014

Meaning, Intention, Communication

If, following the utterance 'Leave!', its addressee remains immobile, either they did not understand it , or they did, but could not or did not want to execute it.  Thus, there is a distinction between a successful communication and a satisfied intention or purpose, i. e. an utterance might be understood when an intention or purpose remains unfilled.  So, insofar as the object of understanding is the meaning of an utterance, the distinction between Meaning and Intention is not, as Searle asserts, that the former is greater than the latter, but that it is less.  Accordingly, Wittgenstein's concept of Meaning as Use, and Peirce's as Consequences, are likewise inadequate.

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