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Meaning in Gender Theory: Clarifying a Basic Problem from a Linguistic-Philosophical Perspective
- Hypatia
- Indiana University Press
- Volume 20, Number 2, Spring 2005
- pp. 48-68
- Article
- Additional Information
The author investigates the notion of linguistic meaning in gender research. She approaches this basic problem by drawing upon two very different conceptions of language and meaning: (1) that of the logician Gottlob Frege and (2) that of the linguist Ferdinand de Saussure. Motivated by the controversial response the Anglo-American sex/gender debate received within the German context, the author focuses on the connection between this epistemological controversy among feminists and two discursive traditions of linguistic meaning (analytic philosophy and poststructuralism), to show how philosophy of language can contribute to current feminist debates.