Aboutness
Encyclopedia
Aboutness is a term used in library and information science
(LIS), linguistics, philosophy of language, and philosophy of mind. In LIS, it is often considered synonymous with subject (documents)
. In philosophy it has been often considered synonymous with intentionality
, perhaps since John Searle
(1983).
R. A. Fairthorne (1969) is credited with coining the exact term "aboutness," which became popular in LIS since the late 1970s, perhaps due to arguments put forward by William John Hutchins
(1975, 1977, 1978). Hutchins argued that "aboutness" was to be preferred to "subject" because it removed some epistemological problems. Hjørland (1992, 1997) argued, however, that the same epistemological problems also were present in Hutchins proposal, why "aboutness" and "subject" should be considered synonymous.
While information scientists may well be concerned with the literary aboutness (John Hutchins, 1975, 1977, 1978), philosophers of mind and psychologists with the psychological or intentional
aboutness (John Searle, 1983) and language of thought
(Jerry Fodor, 1975), and semantic externalists
with the external state of affairs (Hilary Putnam, 1975). These seminal perspectives are respectively analogous to Ogden and Richards
' literary, psychological, and external contexts (1923), as well as Karl Popper
's World 1, 2, and 3 (1977).
In linguistics, aboutness is simply meaning, the end of language. In psychology, it is intentionality
. In psycholinguistics
or cognitive linguistics
, it is language of thought
in vogue, or something like that.
Library and information science
Library and information science is a merging of the two fields library science and information science...
(LIS), linguistics, philosophy of language, and philosophy of mind. In LIS, it is often considered synonymous with subject (documents)
Subject (documents)
In library and information science documents are classified and searched by subject - as well as by other attributes such as author, genre and document type. This makes "subject" a fundamental term in this field. Library and information specialists assign subject labels to documents to make them...
. In philosophy it has been often considered synonymous with intentionality
Intentionality
The term intentionality was introduced by Jeremy Bentham as a principle of utility in his doctrine of consciousness for the purpose of distinguishing acts that are intentional and acts that are not...
, perhaps since John Searle
John Searle
John Rogers Searle is an American philosopher and currently the Slusser Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley.-Biography:...
(1983).
R. A. Fairthorne (1969) is credited with coining the exact term "aboutness," which became popular in LIS since the late 1970s, perhaps due to arguments put forward by William John Hutchins
William John Hutchins
William John Hutchins is an English linguist and information scientist specialized in machine translation.-Works by Hutchins:* Hutchins, W. John . Languages of indexing and classification. A linguistic study of structures and functions. London: Peter Peregrinus.** Hutchins, W. John . On the...
(1975, 1977, 1978). Hutchins argued that "aboutness" was to be preferred to "subject" because it removed some epistemological problems. Hjørland (1992, 1997) argued, however, that the same epistemological problems also were present in Hutchins proposal, why "aboutness" and "subject" should be considered synonymous.
While information scientists may well be concerned with the literary aboutness (John Hutchins, 1975, 1977, 1978), philosophers of mind and psychologists with the psychological or intentional
Intentionality
The term intentionality was introduced by Jeremy Bentham as a principle of utility in his doctrine of consciousness for the purpose of distinguishing acts that are intentional and acts that are not...
aboutness (John Searle, 1983) and language of thought
Language of thought
In philosophy of mind, the language of thought hypothesis put forward by American philosopher Jerry Fodor describes thoughts as represented in a "language" that allows complex thoughts to be built up by combining simpler thoughts in various ways...
(Jerry Fodor, 1975), and semantic externalists
Semantic externalism
In the philosophy of language, semantic externalism is the view that the meaning of a term is determined, in whole or in part, by factors external to the speaker. According to an externalist position, one can claim without contradiction that two speakers could be in exactly the same brain state at...
with the external state of affairs (Hilary Putnam, 1975). These seminal perspectives are respectively analogous to Ogden and Richards
I. A. Richards
Ivor Armstrong Richards was an influential English literary critic and rhetorician....
' literary, psychological, and external contexts (1923), as well as Karl Popper
Karl Popper
Sir Karl Raimund Popper, CH FRS FBA was an Austro-British philosopher and a professor at the London School of Economics...
's World 1, 2, and 3 (1977).
In linguistics, aboutness is simply meaning, the end of language. In psychology, it is intentionality
Intentionality
The term intentionality was introduced by Jeremy Bentham as a principle of utility in his doctrine of consciousness for the purpose of distinguishing acts that are intentional and acts that are not...
. In psycholinguistics
Psycholinguistics
Psycholinguistics or psychology of language is the study of the psychological and neurobiological factors that enable humans to acquire, use, comprehend and produce language. Initial forays into psycholinguistics were largely philosophical ventures, due mainly to a lack of cohesive data on how the...
or cognitive linguistics
Cognitive linguistics
In linguistics, cognitive linguistics refers to the branch of linguistics that interprets language in terms of the concepts, sometimes universal, sometimes specific to a particular tongue, which underlie its forms...
, it is language of thought
Language of thought
In philosophy of mind, the language of thought hypothesis put forward by American philosopher Jerry Fodor describes thoughts as represented in a "language" that allows complex thoughts to be built up by combining simpler thoughts in various ways...
in vogue, or something like that.
See also
- Content analysisContent analysisContent analysis or textual analysis is a methodology in the social sciences for studying the content of communication. Earl Babbie defines it as "the study of recorded human communications, such as books, websites, paintings and laws."According to Dr...
- IntentionalityIntentionalityThe term intentionality was introduced by Jeremy Bentham as a principle of utility in his doctrine of consciousness for the purpose of distinguishing acts that are intentional and acts that are not...
- Language of thoughtLanguage of thoughtIn philosophy of mind, the language of thought hypothesis put forward by American philosopher Jerry Fodor describes thoughts as represented in a "language" that allows complex thoughts to be built up by combining simpler thoughts in various ways...
- Subject matterSubject matterSubject matter, in general, is anything which can be content for some theory.Subject matter may refer to:* Patentable subject matter , defining whether patent protection is available...
- Theme and rheme
- William John HutchinsWilliam John HutchinsWilliam John Hutchins is an English linguist and information scientist specialized in machine translation.-Works by Hutchins:* Hutchins, W. John . Languages of indexing and classification. A linguistic study of structures and functions. London: Peter Peregrinus.** Hutchins, W. John . On the...
Literature
- Furner, J. (2006). "The ontology of subjects of works." ASIS&T conference. http://polaris.gseis.ucla.edu/jfurner/papers/furner-06asist-b-ppt.pdf
- Hjørland, B. (2001). "Towards a theory of aboutness, subject, topicality, theme, domain, field, content. . . and relevance." Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 52(9), 774–778.
- Bruza, P. D., Song, D. W., & Wong, K. F. (2000). "Aboutness from a commonsense perspective." Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 51(12), 1090-1105. Available at: http://people.kmi.open.ac.uk/dawei/papers/aboutness-aista00.pdf
- Campbell, G. (2000a). "Aboutness and meaning: How a paradigm of subject analysis can illuminate queer theory in literary studies." IN: CAIS 2000. Canadian Association for Information Science: Proceedings of the 28th Annual Conference. http://www.slis.ualberta.ca/cais2000/campbell.htm
- Campbell, G. (2000b). "Queer theory and the creation of contextual subject access tools for gay and lesbian communities." Knowledge Organization, 27(3), 122-131.
- Hjørland, B. (1997): Information seeking and subject representation: An activity-theoretical approach to information science. Westport & London: Greenwood Press.
- Heidegger, M. (1996). Being and Time, trans. by Joan Stambaugh. Albany: State University of New York Press.
- Hjørland, B. (1992). "The concept of “subject” in information science." Journal of Documentation, 48(2), 172-200. http://www.db.dk/bh/Core%20Concepts%20in%20LIS/1992JDOC_Subject.PDF
- Frohmann, B. (1990). "Rules of indexing: A critique of mentalism in information retrieval theory." Journal of Documentation, 81-101.
- Beghtol, C. (1986). "Bibliographic classification theory and text linguistics: aboutness analysis, intertextuality and the cognitive act of classifying documents." Journal of Documentation, 42, 84-113.
- Searle, John (1983). Intentionality: An Essay in the Philosophy of Mind, Cambridge University Press.
- Salem, Shawky (1982). "Towards “coring” and “aboutness”: An approach to some aspects of in-depth indexing." Journal of Information Science Principles & Practice, 1982, 4, 167-170.
- Mark Petersen, A. (1979). "The meaning of “about” in fiction indexing and retrieval." Aslib Proceedings, 31, 251- 257.
- Swift, D. F., Winn, V. & Bramer, D. (1978). "“Aboutness” as a strategy for retrieval in the social sciences." Aslib Proceedings, 30, 182-187.
- Hutchings, W. J. (1978). "The concept of “aboutness” in subject indexing." Aslib Proceedings, 30, 172-181.
- Hutchins, W. J. (1977). "On the problem of “aboutness” in document analysis." Journal of Informatics, 1, 17-35.
- Maron, M. E. (1977). "On indexing, retrieval and the meaning of about." Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 28, 38-43.
- Heidegger, M. (1977). "Sein und Zeit", in Heidegger's Gesamtausgabe, volume 2, ed. F.-W. von Herrmann, 1977, XIV, 586p.
- Hutchins, W. J. (1975). Languages of indexing and classification. A linguistic study of structures and functions. London: Peter Peregrinus.
- Fairthorne, R. A. (1969). "Content analysis, specification and control." Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, 4, 73-109.
- Heidegger, M. (1962). Being and Time, trans. by John Macquarrie & Edward Robinson. London: SCM Press.
- Goodman, N. (1961). "About." Mind, 70(277), 1-24.
- Putnam, H. (1958). "Formalization of the concept “about”." Philosophy of Science, 25(2), 125-130.
- Thalheimer, R. (1936). "More about “about”." Analysis, 3(3): 46-48.
- Ryle, G. (1933). "About." Analysis, 1(1): 10-11.