Algorithmic Theory of Meaning

In this chapter, I describe the philosophical conception that identifies the meaning of a sentence with a procedure for finding its truth-value. I also give a short historical overview of this idea. The procedural approach to meaning seems reasonable for a large part of natural language in many different contexts. Even though the results of the book are independent from philosophical theories of meaning, my research perspective is very much inspired by the ideas of procedural semantics. In the remaining of the book I study different procedures that language users apply to find the truth-value of quantifier sentences in various situations. I sometimes refer to the meaning understood in such a way as referential meaning to distinguish it from other possible aspects of meaning. This chapter overviews philosophical and methodological motivations behind the theoretical framework explored in this book.