Meaning, Intentionality and Grammar in Husserl’s <i>Lectures on the Theory of Meaning</i>

Abstract

The Lectures on the Theory of Meaning (1908) constitute a valuable document for the study of Edmund Husserl’s thought regarding language. However, this text has been barely considered by scholars. In this paper, I will try to show that the study of the approaches developed in these lessons is of great interest for the analysis of the continuities and changes in Husserl’s thought, as well as for the philosophical discussion about language. I will focus on two themes that I consider fundamental and that will serve, in my opinion, to account for its spirit and relevance: 1) the distinction between two concepts of meaning and its consequences for the distinction between meaning and object; 2) the relationship between our dealing with things and the grammatical forms in which this dealing is linguistically expressed.