Naturalizing meaning through epistemology
some critical notes
pp. 311-321
in: Mauricio Surez, Mauro Dorato, Miklós Rédei (eds), Epsa epistemology and methodology of science, Berlin, Springer, 2010Abstract
According to the theory of meaning as justification, semantics is closely entangled with epistemology: knowing the meaning of an utterance amounts to knowing the justification one may offer for it. In this perspective, the theory of meaning is connected with the epistemic theory of justification, namely the theory that undergoes the more explicit attempts of naturalization. Is it possible to extend those attempts to the notion of meaning? There are many ways of naturalizing the notion of meaning, independently of its links with the notion of justification. Our goal in this paper is to explore the possibility of naturalizing meaning using those very links. To this aim, we will evaluate in brief three main directions: (a) the interaction between justification and discovery; (b) Quine's naturalized epistemology; (c) the naturalization of logic.
