The Meaning of Meaning: A Study of the Influence of Language upon Thought and of the Science of Symbolism

Language is the most important of all the instruments of civilization. This is the premise of a work whose significance to the study of language, literature, and philosophy has remained undiminished since its original publication in 1923. New Introduction by Umberto Eco; Indices.

Charles Kay Ogden (June 1, 1889 Fleetwood, Lancashire – March 21, 1957 London) was an English linguist, philosopher, and writer.


Ivor Armstrong Richards (26 February 1893 in Sandbach, Cheshire – 7 September 1979 in Cambridge) was an influential English literary critic and rhetorician. His books, especially The Meaning of Meaning, Principles of Literary Criticism, Practical Criticism, and The Philosophy of Rhetoric, proved to be founding influences for the New Criticism. The concept of 'practical criticism' led in time to the practices of close reading, what is often thought of as the beginning of modern literary criticism. Richards is regularly considered one of the founders of the contemporary study of literature in English.