Meaning, Truth, and the Limits of Analysis

This book compiles David Wiggins' extensive research on language, meaning, and truth from 1980 to 2020, offering revised insights into semantic analysis.

This volume presents a comprehensive collection of David Wiggins' work spanning four decades, focusing on the intricate relationships between language, meaning, truth, and the boundaries of semantic analysis. The book delves into the historical context of contemporary philosophical discussions surrounding meaning, exploring foundational topics such as sentence structure, definitions, and the essence of truth. By revisiting and revising previously published material, Meaning, Truth, and the Limits of Analysis offers readers a fresh perspective on these enduring philosophical issues.

The text begins with a selective overview of a century's worth of contributions to the philosophy of meaning, tracing influential thinkers from Frege and Wittgenstein through to the late twentieth century. Wiggins meticulously examines the fundamental components of sentence construction, including predicates, the copula, quantifiers, names, and the treatment of existence as a second-level predicate. This foundational exploration sets the stage for the subsequent chapters, which delve deeper into definitions and the aspirations of semantic analysis envisioned by Leibniz and others.

In the latter chapters, the book addresses the concept of natural languages as historical entities, the correlation between truth and inquiry as posited by C. S. Peirce, and the essential properties sought in truth itself. Through thoughtful analysis, Meaning, Truth, and the Limits of Analysis invites readers to reflect on the marks of the concept of truth, as articulated by philosophers like Frege and Leibniz, ultimately enriching our understanding of language and its philosophical implications.