Meaning and Use: Papers Presented at the Second Jerusalem Philosophical Encounter April 1976; To the Memory of Yehoshua Bar-Hilel

Jerusalem Philosophical Encounter 1976 2D;Margalit, Avishai

ISBN 10: 9027708886 / ISBN 13: 9789027708885

Published by D. Reidel; The Magnes Press, Dordrecht / Boston / London / Jerusalem, 1979

About this Item

307 pp.; yellowing; back-cover is stained; else in good and stern condition; The book contains lectures by some of the most significant figures in contemporary philosophy of language: Quine, Davidson, Dummett, Searle, Putnam, Strawson, Kripke and others on the subject of Meaning and Use. Size: 24 Cm Tall.

Seller Inventory # 4847

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Meaning and Use: Papers Presented at the Second Jerusalem Philosophical Encounter April 1976; To the Memory of Yehoshua Bar-Hilel
• Publisher: D. Reidel; The Magnes Press, Dordrecht / Boston / London / Jerusalem
• Publication Date: 1979
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9027708886
• ISBN 13: 9789027708885
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Seller catalogs:
  • Alibris

About this title

Synopsis

The second Jerusalem Philosophical Encounter was held in Jerusalem on April 25-28, 1976. The symposium was originally planned to celebrate the 60th birthday of Y ehoshua Bar-Hillel, philosopher and friend. But his sudden death intervened, and turned celebration into commemoration. The topic of the symposiumwas Meaning and Use. For Bar-Hillel, the question 'meaning or use?' was of great importance, one which he took as a question of priorities. Which approach to natural language is prior: the formal, semantical approach, which accords a central position to the truth­ functional concept of meaning and to the theory of reference, or rather the alternative approach which accords the central position to linguistic commu­ nication and prefers dealing with speech acts to dealing with Statements? Bar­ Hillel's answer to this question, in his later years, can be summed up by our title, meaning and use: neither approach deserves priority, each is equally necessary, and they both complement each other. Those familiar with Bar­ Hillel's uncompromising intellectual honesty would know that this answer does not reflect a superficial wish for domestic peace, but stems rather from deep and informed convictions. The issues of meaning and use dominated Bar-Hillel's intellectuallife. At the same time his day-to-day existence was guided by the idea that the meaning of life is to be found in being useful, particularly in being useful to the community of seekers of knowledge.