The Pragmatic Theory of Meaning

The paper addresses the proto-pragmatic theory of meaning formulated by Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz (1890-1963), one of the most prominent inter-war Polish analytic philosophers from a philosophical school called the Lvov-Warsaw School. The paper finds a point of intersection between analytic philosophy a...

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Main Author: Piotr Szałek
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Polskie Towarzystwo Semiotyczne / The Polish Semiotic Society 2025-07-01
Series:Studia Semiotyczne
Subjects:
Online Access:https://pts2.home.pl/studiaojs/index.php/Studiasemiotyczne/article/view/262
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author Piotr Szałek
author_facet Piotr Szałek
author_sort Piotr Szałek
collection DOAJ
description The paper addresses the proto-pragmatic theory of meaning formulated by Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz (1890-1963), one of the most prominent inter-war Polish analytic philosophers from a philosophical school called the Lvov-Warsaw School. The paper finds a point of intersection between analytic philosophy and pragmatism on the basis of this particular case study and places Ajdukiewicz’s theory in close proximity to the so-called semantic pragmatism of Robert B. Brandom (1950-). The paper argues that there are three particular spheres where we can detect a striking similarity between the two standpoints, which could both be described as exemplifications of analytic pragmatism. The first sphere of similarity is their description of the dominance of pragmatics over semantics. The second sphere of similarity concerns the so-called pragmatic mediation of semantic relations (using a phrase coined by Brandom). And the third similarity regards the concept of the rules of assertions.
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spelling doaj-art-1b37ef8d88c3450c97f1eb26d6a586992025-08-20T03:31:38ZengPolskie Towarzystwo Semiotyczne / The Polish Semiotic SocietyStudia Semiotyczne0137-66082544-073X2025-07-01372The Pragmatic Theory of MeaningPiotr Szałek0The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Faculty of PhilosophyThe paper addresses the proto-pragmatic theory of meaning formulated by Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz (1890-1963), one of the most prominent inter-war Polish analytic philosophers from a philosophical school called the Lvov-Warsaw School. The paper finds a point of intersection between analytic philosophy and pragmatism on the basis of this particular case study and places Ajdukiewicz’s theory in close proximity to the so-called semantic pragmatism of Robert B. Brandom (1950-). The paper argues that there are three particular spheres where we can detect a striking similarity between the two standpoints, which could both be described as exemplifications of analytic pragmatism. The first sphere of similarity is their description of the dominance of pragmatics over semantics. The second sphere of similarity concerns the so-called pragmatic mediation of semantic relations (using a phrase coined by Brandom). And the third similarity regards the concept of the rules of assertions. https://pts2.home.pl/studiaojs/index.php/Studiasemiotyczne/article/view/262Kazimierz AjdukiewiczRobert Brandomanalytic pragmatismtheory of meaningrules of assertions
spellingShingle Piotr Szałek
The Pragmatic Theory of Meaning
Studia Semiotyczne
Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz
Robert Brandom
analytic pragmatism
theory of meaning
rules of assertions
title The Pragmatic Theory of Meaning
title_full The Pragmatic Theory of Meaning
title_fullStr The Pragmatic Theory of Meaning
title_full_unstemmed The Pragmatic Theory of Meaning
title_short The Pragmatic Theory of Meaning
title_sort pragmatic theory of meaning
topic Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz
Robert Brandom
analytic pragmatism
theory of meaning
rules of assertions
url https://pts2.home.pl/studiaojs/index.php/Studiasemiotyczne/article/view/262
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