Abstract

Certain approaches to the meaning of utterances primarily characterize speakers' communicative intentions as the only source of meaning of a speaker's utterance. I show that a strict version of this position is difficult to maintain because the meaning of an utterance is partially due to the intentional attitudes of the audience to an utterance, including their reaction to the social identity of a speaker. This can result in a negotiation over meaning that can take place if the speaker and audience do not agree on the significance of the utterance. The view is motivated if one takes an ameliorative approach to meaning which acknowledges that theories of meaning are constrained by normative concerns related to meaning and communication.