Varieties of meaning: The 2002 Jean Nicod lecturers (review)

Semantics consistently absorbs researchers and practitioners alike for many reasons. It is one of the several points of intersection for philosophy, psychology, and linguistics. Varieties of meaning broadly aims at explaining how meaning is built. More specifically, it addresses the relationship between different meanings and the relevance of this relationship to understanding the process of conceptualization. Divided into four parts, this volume examines and develops linguistic and philosophical concepts concerning cognition in a biological framework.

Part 1 introduces the theme of purpose and cross-purposes. According to Millikan, there are many kinds of purposes: behavioral purposes, biological purposes, natural purposes, and purposes of a whole person, of parts of the body, and of artifacts. Her basic interest is to dissolve the distinctions between the different kinds of purposes and point out how closely related they are.

Part 2 is an in-depth study on natural signs and intentional signs. M provides an extensive description of the flow of information and its biological implications. She also explains how it is possible for an animal to use natural signs to collect information about its world. Differences in purposes and semantic affairs are also examined in this section.

Those who are more interested in the linguistic implications of signification will find Part 3 particularly absorbing. Perception and its relevance to meaning comprehension are addressed. The fuzzy frontiers between semantics and pragmatics are delineated and discussed in a thought-provoking fashion. The focus is then turned to demonstratives and indexical entities to spice up the discussion.

Part 4 offers a study on inner representations. Differences between human and nonhuman thought are exploited as an attempt to unravel controversies regarding representation. M also airs her views about space and time to emphasize how important the integration of these concepts is for perception.

M writes with great clarity throughout and demonstrates the need for further constructive collaboration between cognitive scientists. Her claims elegantly unveil mistaken notions supported by orthodoxies. Those interested in the interconnection between language and mind will find this volume particularly engrossing.