Akeel Bilgrami

Mind, Meaning and Epistemology: Themes from the Philosophy of Crispin Wright ed. by Annalisa Coliva, Oxford University Press, 2012

Abstract

This essay spells out what the normativity of intentions (and intentionality) consists in for Wittgenstein and then argues that the intentions that go into the production of meaning (for instance, in the production of meaningful linguistic speech) are degenerate forms of intention in which the normativity that, in general, holds of intentions, is missing. This has the effect, in turn, of undermining the assumption that meanings are normative. The argument makes central use (a) of the Gricean framework for relating meaning with intentions and (b) of the role of a Fregean notion of sense in our understanding of linguistic meaning.

View the essay here: Why Meaning Intentions are Degenerate