3. Gilbert of Poitiers’s Contextual Theory of Meaning and the Hermeneutics of Secrecy

Abstract

Gilbert of Poitiers hardly at all engages in the type of semantic discussion which has led his near-contemporary, Peter Abelard, rightly or wrongly, to be compared to present-day philosophers of language. Rather, he is led by his position as a textual interpreter towards what might be called a ‘contextual’ theory of meaning. This theory is developed and used by Gilbert in a special and unexpected way as a result of the view that the learned have a duty not just to discover, but also to hide, truths—a hermeneutics of secrecy. Gilbert’s position as a pioneer of the distinction between ordinary verbal meaning and the intended authorial sense has been recognized. It has not been properly linked to his position—indeed his predicament—as an exegete, nor to the hermeneutics of secrecy. This chapter shows these links and their consequences in Gilbert’s thinking about language and his way of writing. Keywords:contextual theory of meaning; Gilbert of Poitiers; hermeneutics of secrecy; language; philosophers