Theory which treats declarative sentences (as against commands and so on) as pictures of facts (if true) or possible facts (otherwise). A notable example of the theory is Tractates (1921) by Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951).
Each element in the sentence (bar certain connectives and so on) stands for something, be it an object or a quality or a relation, and so on; and the connectives and the way the words are put together correspond to the way the objects and qualities and so on are related in the envisaged situation.
The theory is thus a form of correspondence or relational theories of meaning analogous to naming theories of meaning for Singular terms. One objection is that it does not seem to cater for the difference between merely picturing a scene and stating that that scene is part of reality.
Source:
E Daitz, ‘The Picture Theory of Meaning’, Mind (1953); reprinted in A Flew, ed., Essays in Conceptual Analysis (1956)
Table of Contents
- 1 Videos
- 2 Related Products
- 2.1 Signs and Meaning in the Cinema (BFI Silver)
- 2.2 Stonehenge Rediscovered
- 2.3 Age of Anxiety: Meaning, Identity, and Politics in 21st-Century Film and Literature (Politics, Literature, & Film)
- 2.4 Picture Theory: Essays on Verbal and Visual Representation
- 2.5 Reading Shakespeare in the Movies: Non-Adaptations and Their Meaning (Reproducing Shakespeare)
- 2.6 Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life (David Attenborough)
- 2.7 Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime
- 2.8 Film as Embodied Art: Bodily Meaning in the Cinema of Stanley Kubrick
- 2.9 Movies and Meaning: An Introduction to Film, 6th Edition
- 2.10 The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality
- causal theories of meaning
- correspondence or relational theories of meaning
- use theories of meaning
- ideational theories of meaning
- de facto and de jure theories of meaning
Videos
Signs and Meaning in the Cinema (BFI Silver)
- Used Book in Good Condition
- Wollen, Peter (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 288 Pages - 05/10/2013 (Publication Date) - British Film Institute (Publisher)
Stonehenge Rediscovered
- Amazon Prime Video (Video on Demand)
- John Shrapnel (Actor)
- --- (Director) - Carl Hall (Writer) - Carl Hall (Producer)
- English (Playback Language)
- English (Subtitle)
Age of Anxiety: Meaning, Identity, and Politics in 21st-Century Film and Literature (Politics, Literature, & Film)
- Hardcover Book
- Wachs, Anthony M. (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 268 Pages - 11/29/2019 (Publication Date) - Lexington Books (Publisher)
Picture Theory: Essays on Verbal and Visual Representation
- Mitchell, W. J. T. (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 462 Pages - 09/01/1995 (Publication Date) - University of Chicago Press (Publisher)
Reading Shakespeare in the Movies: Non-Adaptations and Their Meaning (Reproducing Shakespeare)
- Hardcover Book
- Mallin, Eric S. (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 254 Pages - 11/01/2019 (Publication Date) - Palgrave Macmillan (Publisher)
Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life (David Attenborough)
- David Attenborough (Actor)
- David Attenborough (Writer) - Brian Leith (Producer)
- English (Subtitle)
- Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Film as Embodied Art: Bodily Meaning in the Cinema of Stanley Kubrick
- Coëgnarts, Maarten (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 264 Pages - 11/12/2019 (Publication Date) - Academic Studies Press (Publisher)
Movies and Meaning: An Introduction to Film, 6th Edition
- Prince, Stephen (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 504 Pages - 02/05/2012 (Publication Date) - Pearson (Publisher)
The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Greene, Brian (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 594 Pages - 12/18/2007 (Publication Date) - Vintage (Publisher)
Last update 2020-06-17. Price and product availability may change.