Semantics and the Body – Meaning from Frege to the Postmodern Ruthrof Paperback

Semantics and the BodyMeaning from Frege to the Postmodern\nAuthor(s): Horst Ruthrof\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: University of Toronto Press, Canada\nImprint: University of Toronto Press\nISBN-13: 9780802079930, 978-0802079930\nSynopsis\nIn traditional semantics, the human body tends to be ignored in the process of constructing meaning. Horst Ruthrof argues, by contrast, that the body is an integral part of this hermeneutic activity. Strictly language-based theories, and theories which conflate formal and natural languages, run into problems when they describe how we communicate in cultural settings. Semantics and the Body proposes that language is no more than a symbolic grid which does not signify at all unless it is brought to life by non-linguistic signs.\n\n Ruthrof reviews and analyses various 'orthodox' theories of meaning, from the views of Gottlob Frege at the beginning of the twentieth century to those of theorists in the postmodern period, then offers an alternative app.