contextualist
Situation shapes meaning
A contextualist holds that meaning, truth, or interpretation depends on context rather than fixed standards.
In philosophy, contextualism argues that knowledge claims vary with conversational context.
In art and architecture, contextualists design buildings that respond to their surroundings rather than imposing universal forms.
She's a contextualist who believes moral judgments can't be separated from cultural circumstances.
Study of interpretation methods
- exegesisCritical textual interpretation
- pragmaticsLanguage-in-context study
- situationalDependent on circumstances
- textualismInterpreting law literally
discourse · framework · schema · relevance · background · coherence · ethnography · semiotics
Context-dependent truth doctrine
- pragmatismPractical problem-solving philosophy
- holismWholes trump components
- epistemologyTheory of knowledge
- constructivismActive knowledge-building theory
phenomenology · postmodernism · dialectic · historicism · anti-foundationalism · particularism · Wittgenstein · pluralism
Study of linguistic meaning
- pragmaticsLanguage-in-context study
- discourseFormal communication on subjects
- polysemyWord having related meanings
- ambiguityOpenness to multiple interpretations
usage · utterance · presupposition · collocation · idiomatic · inference · connotation · reference
Fine distinction, easily missed
- shadingDepicting light and darkness
- connotationImplied sense, not dictionary
- implicationIndirect suggestion or consequence
- refinementElegance of manner
precision · distinction · gradation · overtones · undertone · allusion · suggestion · inflection
hermeneutics
Study of interpretation methods
- exegesisCritical textual interpretation
- pragmaticsLanguage-in-context study
- situationalDependent on circumstances
textualism · discourse · framework · schema · relevance · background · coherence · ethnography · semiotics · holism
relativism
Context-dependent truth doctrine
- pragmatismPractical problem-solving philosophy
- holismWholes trump components
- epistemologyTheory of knowledge
constructivism · phenomenology · postmodernism · dialectic · historicism · anti-foundationalism · particularism · Wittgenstein · pluralism · contingency
semantics
Study of linguistic meaning
- pragmaticsLanguage-in-context study
- discourseFormal communication on subjects
- polysemyWord having related meanings
ambiguity · usage · utterance · presupposition · collocation · idiomatic · inference · connotation · reference · entailment
subtlety
Fine distinction, easily missed
- shadingDepicting light and darkness
- connotationImplied sense, not dictionary
- implicationIndirect suggestion or consequence
refinement · precision · distinction · gradation · overtones · undertone · allusion · suggestion · inflection · tone
contextualistabsolutist
One allowing no exceptions
universalist · essentialist · objectivist · rationalist · realist
contextualisttextualist
Literal legal interpreter
literalist · formalist · originalist · structuralist · strict constructionist
contextualize, contextualized, contextualizing, contextualization, decontextualize, decontextualized, decontextualization, recontextualize, recontextualized