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Updated: May 23, 2026

Exploring the Role of Deontic Reasoning and World Knowledge in Wason´s Selection Task
Published on: July 22, 2025
The selectionist meaning of C. S. Peirce and B. F. Skinner
Abstract:
The selectionist meaning of C. S. Peirce and B. F. Skinner, which has an empirical existence, is advanced against essentialist meaning, which does not. Against a tradition that advocates essentialist meanings, the development of selectionist meaning is traced from Darwin through Peirce and on to Skinner. The views of Peirce and Skinner on meaning are presented as sharing a compatible conceptual foundation with contrasting but complementary distinctions. Support for selectionist meaning comes from contemporary dictionary construction, pragmatist philosophers, and recent views of scientific verbal behavior. Some implications are discussed.
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