Some Thoughts on Semantics

Fifty years have passed since the heyday of this generation of semanticists ... McLuhan and Hayakawa both passed away years ago, Chomsky celebrates his eightieth birthday next year (he was born December 7, 1928). The world has changed in ways both subtle and profound since then, but one of the most significant is the fact that semantics has gone from being a branch of philosophy to being a branch of computing. Oh, surely not, you may protest - there are many things far more important than this - computers in general, the evolution of aircraft, the space programs, biotechnology ... all must be more important than the shift of an obscure part of philosophy into an obscure part of programming.

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