Esforços para uma teoria do significado em psicanálise

Abstract

What do we know when we know the meaning of a sentence or language? This is a fundamental question for Michael Dummett's thinking in his book 'The logical basis of metaphysics'. Given the possible responses, logical-formal criteria will be sought to outline how these so-called theories of meaning are distinguished. When such a characterization of language is possible, we gain a way of discussing different metaphysical views via their respective theories of meaning. As a knowledge that deals with the topic of unconscious meaning, psychoanalysis can benefit from this. Would its scientific status, which is often attacked, be better measured if we were able to formalize its concepts? We believe it is possible to highlight the linguistic practice of psychoanalysis and apply to it the formal criteria demanded by Dummett for a description of a theory of meaning. We can at least begin this work by analyzing a theme often overlooked by psychoanalysts: jokes. If only we give the indications of how this can be done, future work may formally indicate what kind of science we can expect from psychoanalysis, as well as how it connects with metaphysics.