Language and Ideology: The Significance of Hermeneutics and Semiotics for the Theory of Ideology

This thesis attempts to assess the implications for the theory of ideology of two regions within the philosophy of language. These regions are, first, hermeneutics, and, second, semiotics. Each has been chosen because it has, in the course of its respective investigation, encountered the phenomenon of ideology. The question addressed by the thesis is twofold: (1) What, if any, are the implications for the theory of ideology of the respective findings of hermeneutics and semiotics? (2) Are the findings of each region of equal significance, or does one region produce more significant results than the other? The thesis contends (1) that both hermeneutics and semiotics have made discoveries which are significant for the theory of ideology; and (2) that the findings of semiotics are of greater significance. It also contends that this fact is not generally recognised, precisely because semiotics has been a misunderstood project.