ABSTRACT

This chapter deals with the claim that semantics can contribute essentially to the clarification of the role which 'understanding meaning' plays in the context of communicating information. It suggests that the philosophy or theory of science should be understood as 'meta-theoretical investigations' into the model-theoretical or even mathematical structure of special scientific disciplines. The chapter shows the different ways in which the comprehension of meaning comes about with the help of an A-channel, which is concerned with contents and a simulative C-channel using characteristic symptoms or characterizing features. Philosophy of science might also be regarded as a theory to 're-construct' the arrival at decisions about the acceptance and enforcement or spread of certain scientific results in so far as these are understood to be caused by rational arguments. Under normal conditions, the philosophy of science cannot be transformed directly into epistemology.