A Study On Russell's Theory Of Meaning

The meaning of language has always been the central issue of language philosophy. Analytic philosophers are deeply encompassed by such questions as what makes a difference between our languages and meaningless sounds——what makes our language meaningful, and what is the meaning of phraseology and denoting phrases, etc.. To solve such puzzles, analytic philosophers have done unremitting efforts, which has promoted the development of philosophy to a great extent. Most analytic philosophers have their own theories of meaning, so does Russell.Bertrand Russell(1872-1970), a famous British philosopher of 20th century, is one of the founders of modern analytic philosophy. The meaning of language is also one of the key issues of Russell's philosophy.Russell's understanding on meaning has been in a progressive changes. As far as the development of his theory of meaning is concerned, The year of 1918 marks a distinctive difference in Russell's understanding on meaning. From 1903' The Principles of Mathematics to 1911 's Principia Mathematica, Russell claimed himself as a firm figure of referential theory. However, after 1918, he tried to study meaning from a deeper and wider perspective, when he intentionally absorbed the latest findings in philosophy, natural science and psychology in particular to his theory of meaning, and finally came up with his own theory.This paper makes a brief study on the development of Russell's theory of meaning, which consists of six parts:Part one: Introduction. This part analyzes the importance of the meaning of language, and tries to reveal the structure of "meaning" problem.Part two: A decisive urgerof referential theory. This part talks about Russell's theory of designation, place a emphasis on the origin of his referential theory.Part three: An important turning point in his theory of meaning. 1919 is an important turning point in his theory of meaning, after that, he changes his understanding of the meaning of language.Part four: "Conception" in Russell's theory of meaning. From 1919's On Proposition, "conception" as a intermediary, has been absorbed into Russell's theory of meaning.Part five: "Behaviorism" in Russell's theory of meaning. Also in 1919's On Proposition, Russell began to make his study in a "behaviorism" way.Part six: Conclusion. Although Russell's understanding changed a lot in his later study, the theory of designation is his basic opinion all the time. It is reasonable to say, Russell developed his theory of meaning with the theory of conception and the theory of behaviorism.