Meaning, Expression, and Evidence

Abstract

Grice's (1957) analysis of non-natural meaning generated a huge industry, where new analyses were put forward to respond to successively more complex counterexamples. Davis (2003) offers a novel and refreshingly simple analysis of meaning in terms of the expression of belief, where (roughly) an agent expresses the belief that p just in case she performs a publicly observable action with the intention that it be an indication that she occurrently believes that p. I argue that Davis's analysis fails to capture the essentially overt nature of our meaning-intentions, and with it, a plausible sufficient condition for meaning.

Meaning, Expression and Extremely Strong Evidence

“…But, as the foregoing example makes clear, one can provide a clue that p without expressing the belief that p , hence, without meaning that p . (Expression) fails.” (, p. 155).…”

“…Crucially, this is so, even if, by his own lights, no particular clue that he offers will put the police in a position to infer what that belief is. (, pp. 154–55.…”

“…They are put by Buchanan as follows:

(Meaning): S meant that p just in case S either directly, or indirectly, expressed the belief that p .(Expression): S expressed the belief that p iff S performed a publicly observable action e with the intention that e be an undisguised indication that S has an occurrent belief that p . (, p. 153)

…”

“…(Expression): S expressed the belief that p iff S performed a publicly observable action e with the intention that e be an undisguised indication that S has an occurrent belief that p . (, p. 153)…”

“…In “Meaning, Expression, and Evidence,” Buchanan () objects to Davis' () account of speaker meaning as indication on the basis that it counts providing clues that p as meaning that p . Since providing a clue that p is evidence for p ; since indicating that p is spelled out in terms of evidence for p ; since meaning that p is spelled out in terms of indicating that p —it follows that by providing a clue that p an agent means that p .…”