theories of meaning referential theory of meaning verification theory. use theory of meaning...
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Theories of Meaning
• Referential Theory of Meaning
• Verification Theory.
• Use Theory of Meaning
• Speech-act Theory of Meaning
• Hermeneutic Theory of Meaning
• Post-Modern Approach
Theories of Meaning (Contd.)
• Freudian Theory of Meaning
• Emotive Theory of Meaning
• Prescriptive Theory of Meaning.
• Spota Theory of Meaning
• Literal vrs Metaphoric Meaning
• Meta-message
Referential Theory
• We mean what we say.
• Word designates objects.
• Facts are relation between objects.
• Sentences capture the relations of objects
• A true statement corresponds to facts.
Verification Theory
• Logical Positivists Account: Verification Theory of Meaning.
• There are two types of sentences: Formal and Empirical.
• Formal sentences have meaning because of the definitions of the terms.
• The meaning of Empirical sentences lie in their verification.
Verification Theory (con…)
• Verification-in principle, in practice.
• Meaning lies in its truth-condition.
• Falsifiability Criterion of Meaning.
Use Theory
• Meaning of a word lies in its Use
• Conventions and traditions play an important role (e.g. pankaja, akalmand)
• Not every word stands for objects.
• World of fiction, ethics, dance, music, aesthetics etc. do not have referents.
Speech-Act Theory
• Speaking is a performance
• In speaking we do certain things, e.g., promise, request, question, assertion etc.
• Locutions, Illocutions and Perlocutions
Hermeneutic Theory
• Meaning lies in Interpretation.
• Speech is a part of Discourse.
• What comes first and what comes later would matter.
• Customs/traditions help us in Interpretation.
• There can be radical Interpretation
Post-Modern Approach
• The Author Is Dead
• Everything is a “Text”.
• Interpretation/Re-interpretation is inevitable.
• You never read the same text twice the same way.
Freudian Theory
• Human Mind is Complex.
• You may not know your own intention.
• Sub-conscious intention can interfere.
• Strong Unfulfilled desires are repressed.
• Deconstruction.
Emotive Theory
• Emotion attached to the sentence is the meaning.
• “Children are lovely” means that you have favorable emotion towards children. You have favorable attitude towards them.
• “Truth is beauty” expresses certain attitude towards reality.
Emotive Theory (Contd..)
• Emotions could be negative or positive.
• A gift is meaningful if you love it.
• You would like to avoid an occasion where you feel uncomfortable.
• You are sentimentally attached to the belongings of your parents.
Prescriptive Theory
• When we claim that health is good, we recommend that good health be achieved.
• When we say that smoking bad, we mean that we condemn smoking.
Spota Theory
• Words and sentences have their power.
• Meaning is this power.
• Word meaning/Sentence meaning.
• Meaning is a whole.
• E.g. Touch me not is a medicinal plant grown in my garden.
Literal vrs Metaphoric Meaning
• A Metaphor cuts across the categories• Some ideas can be expressed only through
metaphors• Turia state in Upanisad is compared to deep
sleep state.• Sub-atomic structure to solar system.• Human nature to traits of animals and birds.• Meta-Message.
Open-Ended Meta-Message
• Communication is necessarily incomplete.• What is unsaid is left open. • There is silence before the speech and the speech
is terminated in silence. • Past overshadows the present and expectation
interferes with the perception of the present.• People know how to read between the lines.• Un-intended signals.