Logic, sense and universes of discourse: On the occasion of a letter from Y. Bar-Hillel to E. Coseriu

In a letter addressed to Eugenio Coseriu (1921–2002), dated November 10, 1957, the logician and philosopher of science Yehoshua Bar-Hillel (1915–1975) takes issue with the concept of “universe of discourse”, which Coseriu had briefly illustrated in his study “Determinación y entorno” (1955-1956). Bar-Hillel’s comments provide a point of departure for revisiting a concept that has received little attention in the language sciences, along with a number of related terminological and conceptual distinctions that are important to understanding the disagreement between the two scholars. After outlining the history of “universe of discourse” in 19th century logic and W. Urban’s Language and reality (1939), which was Coseriu’s direct source, the article analyses Bar-Hillel’s objection that “universe of discourse” is a redundant concept and not helpful in explaining under what conditions a statement is true. It also addresses more recent concerns that Coseriu does not clearly distinguish universes of discourse from other settings and conflates text-linguistic analysis with logical analysis of language. The article argues, from a historiographical point of view, that there are good reasons for linking “universe of discourse” with logical issues such as non-existent objects and seemingly meaningless utterances. These issues, along with the phenomenological concept of “objectuality” (“Gegenständlichkeit”), are interpreted through Coseriu’s threefold distinction between language-specific signifieds (“Bedeutungen”), designation (“Bezeichnung”) and the sense of a text or discourse (“Sinn”). After clarifying the relation between logic and universe of discourse, the article concentrates on their connection with the meaning of texts, i.e., sense. Sense does not only come about by virtue of signifieds and designation but is also dependent on a universe of discourse. Although the number and mutual demarcation of different universes of discourse as well as their justification with regard to differing realms of knowledge remain a matter of controversy, the concept of “universe of discourse” proves highly significant in the domain of text linguistics.