A critical evaluation of Gricean reductive analysis of meaning

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2019
Dinçer, Şule Nur
The aim of this thesis is to examine Paul Grice’s reductive analysis of the concept of non-natural meaning (meaningNN for short). The two stages of Grice’s reductive analysis will be outlined. The utterer’s meaning in the first stage and utterance-type meaning in the latter will be explained. The thesis will state the important objections and amendments in chronological order made by the selected philosopher, as well as – if available – Grice’s own response to the criticisms. We shall critically evaluate the objections raised and argue that circularity in Grice’s 1957 analysis is evident. Finally, we conclude that Grice’s Programme can be stated as flawed due to a failure to account for circularity.

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Citation Formats
Ş. N. Dinçer, “A critical evaluation of Gricean reductive analysis of meaning,” Thesis (M.S.) -- Graduate School of Social Sciences. Philosophy., Middle East Technical University, 2019.