Meaning, Intentions, and Argumentation

What is the relationship between words and reality? How is it possible to say anything true or false about the world? What are the best ways to convince or persuade someone? A bundle of questions like these have intrigued thinkers throughout recorded history. Beside philosophy and grammar, ancient Greeks developed rhetoric-the art of the means for persuasion-in searching for answers. This search was accelerated in the twentieth century as the introduction of semantics and pragmatics fostered a systematic study of linguistic acts and meaning.

This volume brings together the work of contemporary leading scholars as they approach the above issues conceptually, formally, and descriptively from a broad range of perspectives. Some follow the paths of older disciplines such as philosophy and rhetoric; others develop their theories within newer disciplines such as semantics and pragmatics; most cross disciplinary borders; and all contribute illuminating ideas on crucial aspects of meaning, communication, argumentation, and persuasion.