University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2017 The Ethics Of Meaning Robert B. Willison University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, and the Other Languages, Societies, and Cultures Commons Recommended Citation Willison, Robert B., "The Ethics Of Meaning" (2017). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 2795. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2795 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2795 For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Ethics Of Meaning Abstract This dissertation develops an ethics of meaning. In the first chapter, I offer an account of meaning that comprehends its many varieties—natural, cultural, linguistic, literary, and ethical meaning, for example—by appeal to the structural role meaning plays in the practice of interpretation. In Chapter 2, I develop a distinctive account of the concept of ethical meaning (“meaning” as it’s used in the phrase “the meaning of life”). In Chapter 3, I develop a new account of irony on the basis of the comprehensive-interpretive account of meaning introduced in Chapter 1. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Philosophy First Advisor Michael Weisberg Keywords Ethics, Irony, Meaning Subject Categories Ethics and Political Philosophy | Other Languages, Societies, and Cultures | Philosophy This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2795 THE ETHICS OF MEANING Robert B. Willison A DISSERTATION in Philosophy Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2017 Supervisor of Dissertation ____________________ Michael Weisberg Professor of Philosophy Graduate Group Chairperson _____________________ Samuel Freeman, Avalon Professor of the Humanities Dissertation Committee Elisabeth Camp, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Rutgers University Karen Detlefsen, Professor of Philosophy and Education, University of Pennsylvania Alex Guerrero, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Rutgers University For my mother, who makes so much of the meaning she finds everywhere ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS When I decided to enroll in a Ph.D. program in philosophy, I promised myself that I’d pursue my graduate studies primarily for their own sake, rather than for what might come later. “Five years is an incredibly long period of time,” I thought to myself. “I could be dead in five years.” Eight years later, I’m happy to report that keeping my promise to myself was much easier than I expected it to be, mostly because I met so many of the wonderful people I now have the pleasure of thanking. I couldn’t have hoped to share my education with such a remarkable group of fellow students, and though it pains me to resist the temptation to record each of their names in this space, it pains me more to imagine inadvertently leaving anyone out. So, instead of attempting a comprehensive and just accounting, I’ll limit myself to mentioning the four miraculous members of my cohort: Rob Hoffman, whose elegant style of dress and stealthy wit were overshadowed only by the sheer power of his basic human decency; Dan Issler, whose indiscriminate curiosity, engaging spirit, and warm heart remind me of what’s most important in a philosopher; Emily Parke, whose wisdom, sympathy, and steadfast friendship brought us all together; and Hal Parker, delightful resident of the strange borderlands that connect the profound and the absurd, who thinks like no one else I’ve ever met. The best decision I made as a graduate student at Penn was asking Liz Camp to be my advisor. Liz is, of course, a brilliant philosopher. But even more important, she’s patient, caring, imaginative, generous, and open-minded. I’m extraordinarily lucky and unduly proud (I know that’s ambiguous, but you know what I mean!) to have had her as a teacher and mentor. Nor iii could I have hoped for a more wonderful committee. Alex Guerrero read and discussed my work with great care and terrific intelligence; I always left his office with new ideas and renewed excitement for philosophy. He was also unfailingly thoughtful and kind. Adrienne Martin has always inspired me with her courage, honesty, and toughness. Michael Weisberg seems to pass part of what’s best about him to each of his students—Emily Parke’s conscientious respect for science as it’s actually practiced; Karen Kovaka’s broad knowledge and social conscience; Carlos Santana’s fearlessness: I’m glad to join their ranks. Karen Detlefsen is a deeply moral, insightful, resilient philosopher, and an imposing role model. She works so hard to do what’s right, and succeeds. In addition to the members of my committee, Nat Adams, John Arthur Baldwin, Devin Curry, Sam Graham-Felsen, David Hills, Abe Kunin, Ben Mathis-Lilley, Sucosh Norton, Shane Slattery-Quintanilla, and Eric Todrys read and commented on portions of this dissertation. Thanks to them all. Kierkegaard said that being human doesn’t come easily, but it’s even harder when you share your life (and, especially, your living space!) with me. I’m surpassingly grateful, therefore, for the profound tolerance, uncompromising loyalty, and soulful companionship of Louise Daoust. Louise’s philosophical influence is everywhere in this dissertation, but especially at its foundation, in Chapter 1. I owe much of my interest in and understanding of Gibson and Dretske to Louise. More importantly, though, there’s no more philosophically important or fulfilling activity than sharing time and conversation with a genuinely original, miraculously good human iv being. I couldn’t have asked for a better teammate. She’s like Kevin Garnett and Isaiah Thomas put together. Somewhere in their acknowledgements, philosophers usually stipulate that the people thanked shouldn’t be held responsible for any mistakes the author has made. I want explicitly to except my mother from any such disclaimer: her influence on me is far too thorough for her to escape responsibility for my failings. If, in the pages that follow, I sometimes see connections where there are none, become melodramatic in my pessimism, or insufficiently rigorous in my moments of optimism: blame her. To my eye, these appear as the occasionally necessary excesses of a great spirit rather than as vices, because they belong to her. But even if you don’t share my bias, I hope that these imperfections, to the extent that they are present, are outweighed by the virtues my mother taught me: a deep charity toward the strangest of views, a refusal to dismiss the unpleasant, and faith in humanity. If I can be understood, it’s in a language of my mother’s making. I am who I am because of her. Given all of that, it’s of comparatively little consequence that I dedicate this dissertation to her, with my deepest love and gratitude. Nevertheless, I do. v ABSTRACT THE ETHICS OF MEANING Robert Willison Michael Weisberg This dissertation develops an ethics of meaning. In the first chapter, I offer an account of meaning that comprehends its many varieties—natural, cultural, linguistic, literary, and ethical meaning, for example—by appeal to the structural role meaning plays in the practice of interpretation. In Chapter 2, I develop a distinctive account of the concept of ethical meaning (“meaning” as it’s used in the phrase “the meaning of life”). In Chapter 3, I develop a new account of irony on the basis of the comprehensive-interpretive account of meaning introduced in Chapter 1. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. III ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. VI PREFACE ............................................................................................................................... VIII THE COMPREHENSIVE-INTERPRETIVE ACCOUNT OF MEANING ............................................ 1 ETHICAL MEANING ................................................................................................................ 64 IRONY AS DYNAMIC REVERSAL ............................................................................................ 116 vii PREFACE The Ethics of Meaning On September 10, 1989, two days before her son’s eighth birthday, Ann Weiss drove to the local shopping center to order a cake for the party. She chose chocolate, her son’s favorite, and had his name, “SCOTTY,” inscribed under an image of a spaceship and launching pad, with a backdrop of frosted white stars. On the morning of his birthday, walking with a friend to catch the school bus, Scotty was hit by a car. Though he managed to walk home on his own power and tell his mother what had happened, he soon fell into a deep, unresponsive sleep. Ann and her husband, Howard, took Scotty to the hospital, where, after conducting some tests, the doctor assured both parents that Scotty was simply suffering from a concussion and a shock, and would wake soon. After twenty four hours, Scotty still wasn’t awake. This was no cause for serious concern, Dr. Francis said: they’d run extensive tests, and, aside from a small hairline fracture in the skull (not itself life-threatening), nothing seemed to be wrong. Extended sleeps like these can be