The Proper Function of Meaning Intentions

This talk concerns questions about the role of so-called meaning intentions or meta-representational action plans in social interaction. The talk has two primary aims, one negative and the second constructive. The negative aim of the talk is to elaborate and extend an argument against broadly Gricean conceptions according to which meaning intentions are constitutive of language use or of communication at all.  The constructive aim of the talk is to develop an alternative account of the function of meaning intentions which centers on the role of their intentions as occasion-specific devices of luck reduction.