Title: “Malapropisms, Metaphors, Nonsense and Neologisms: Convention before Communication”
I will defend the surprising, yet old-fashioned, idea that convention is essential to communication. But first I will be looking at the evidence Davidson provides for a contrary idea, namely, that there is improvised (and so, non-conventional) meaning. Davidson wants to convince us that communication can be successful even when the meaning a speaker wants to get across is completely improvised on an occasion of use as well as completely new to interpreters. He offers a range of examples in support of this idea, each intended as an intuitive basis for thinking that improvised meaning is crucial in language: malapropisms, nonsense and neologisms. I will work through these cases critically, rethinking the intuitions surrounding them. I will try to convince you that when you look closely at them, you will not find any improvised meaning, in Davidson’s sense. Accordingly, I hope to draw general lessons about meaning.