西方历史学经典名著选读读书笔记4（共五篇）.docx

西方历史学经典名著选读读书笔记4（共五篇）

第一篇：西方历史学经典名著选读读书笔记4MeaningandUnderstandingintheHistoryofIdeasHistoriansofideasfocusontwotypesofmeaning–literalandintendedmeaning.QuentinSkinnermakestwokeydistinctions:betweenliteralandintendedmeaning,andbetweentextandcontexts.Thesedistinctionsshouldbeconsidereconsideredseparately.Astatement‘sintendedmeaningmaydifferfromitsliteralmeaning–‗thesenseandreferenceofthetermsusedtoexpressit.Skinner‘sfirstexampleisirony.Takenliterally,Defoe‘sTheShortest-WayWiththeDissentersarguesthatdissentersshouldbeexecuted.Takenironically,asDefoeactuallyintended,theargumentisfortoleration,notpersecution.ToconcludethatDefoemeanttodefendpersecutionwouldbetoconfuseliteralandintendedmeanings,toconfusewhatthewordssayandwhatDefoemeantbythem.Ironyisthe‗textbookcase‘of‗apergencebetweenwhatapersonsaysandwhatshemeans‘.Skinner‘ssecondexampleisambiguity.Weshouldlooktointendedmeaningswhenliteralmeaningsareunclear–when‗thespeakerfailstomakeclearhowexactlytheutteranceistobetakenorunderstood‘.Ambiguityis‗rampant‘innaturallanguages,andperhapsnostatementiseverentirelyunambiguous.Muchmorecouldbesaidaboutspeech-acttheory.Thebasicpointisthatintendedandliteralmeaningsperge,andweusuallyprioritiseintendedmeanings.Thisviewisstandardforphilosophersoflanguage,althoughtheydifferfromeachotherinmanydetails.Ofcourse,mybriefaccountcannotfullyjustifythisposition.Butthreepointsarebrieflyworthemphasising.Thevalueoftextualanalysisshouldbebrieflyhighlighted.Wedonotneedcontextualanalysistorejectobviousmisreadings,likeGeoffreyHill‘sbizarreclaimthatHobbesbelievedinintrinsicvalue.Indeed,theCambridgeschool‘shugecontributiontointellectualhistorypartlyreflectshigh-qualitytextualanalysis.Readingatextcarefullyisnecessary–butnotsufficient.Ultimately,thecombinationoftextualandcontextualanalysisiscrucial,asinSkinner‘ssuperlativeanalysisofHobbes‘schangingaccountofliberty.Insummary,formanyintellectualhistorianstheaimistouncoverintendedmeanings,andthemeanstothatendaretextualand/orcontextualanalysis,bothofwhichmayinv