The Semantics of Media
Published on 31. January 1997
Book
Hardback
VII, 141 pages
978-0-7923-4389-9 (ISBN)
Description
Media are objects with content and character that we describe using in- phrases:
in the story, in the picture, in the movie, in the
dream
... Like the propositional attitudes, these objects present a variety of hard problems for semantic and philosophical analysis.
The
Semantics of Media
is an organized exploration of fundamental questions in the semantics of media.
The first three chapters set out a straightforward model within the possible-worlds framework, and consider how it might account for a range of notions applying to media generally: implicit vs. explicit content, propositional vs. individual content, causal vs. intentional content and the idea of a single World of the Medium.
The final three chapters examine ways of elaborating the model to cover a range of phenomena keyed to the functionality of particular forms of media. Chapter Four is a discussion of fiction and our apparent reference to fictional characters. Chapter Five deals with the phenomenon of viewpoint in pictorial media. Chapter Six is a study of interactions between users and characters of media centering on the puzzling case of seeing in films .
The Semantics of Media will be of interest to specialists in the fields of linguistics, philosophy and communications.
The first three chapters set out a straightforward model within the possible-worlds framework, and consider how it might account for a range of notions applying to media generally: implicit vs. explicit content, propositional vs. individual content, causal vs. intentional content and the idea of a single World of the Medium.
The final three chapters examine ways of elaborating the model to cover a range of phenomena keyed to the functionality of particular forms of media. Chapter Four is a discussion of fiction and our apparent reference to fictional characters. Chapter Five deals with the phenomenon of viewpoint in pictorial media. Chapter Six is a study of interactions between users and characters of media centering on the puzzling case of seeing in films .
The Semantics of Media will be of interest to specialists in the fields of linguistics, philosophy and communications.
More details
Series
Edition
1997 ed.
Language
English
Place of publication
Dordrecht
Netherlands
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Research
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
VII, 141 p.
Dimensions
Height: 241 mm
Width: 160 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
404 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7923-4389-9 (9780792343899)
DOI
10.1007/978-94-011-5650-9
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Content
1. Media.- 1. Language and the Study of Content.- 2. The Notion of Media.- 3. Media and Attitudes.- 4. The Mechanics of Media.- 2. Basic Propositional Content.- 1. Possible-Worlds Semantics.- 2. Modality.- 3. Counterfactuals.- 4. Media.- 5. The Language L.- 6. The Semantics of Media Terms.- 7. Validity in L.- 8. Summary - The Intensional Package.- 3. Reflections on Content.- 1. Explicit and Implicit Content.- 2. Appearance and Existence.- 3. 'The World of the Medium'.- 4. With Reference to Characters.- 1. The Particularity Problem.- 2. Character-Sentences.- 3. The Problem of Accidental Reference.- 5. The Semantics of Viewpoint.- 1. Viewpoint.- 2. Categorial Semantics.- 3. Property Semantics.- 4. Viewpoint and the Viewer.- 6. The Semantics of Interaction.- 1. The Problem of Interactions.- 2. Seeing.- 3. Seeing in Films I - The Causal Account.- 4. Content and Causation.- 5. Seeing in Films II - The Intensional Account.- 6. The Intensional Account Probed.- 7. Contexts as Media.- Notes.- References.