Abstract; The term “meaning” conceptualizes a fundamental object of explanation in the study of communication, one whose status may be characterized as alternately ubiquitous, mundane, elusive, and compelling. Broadly, “the meaning of meaning” is generated in intellectual traditions that conceptualize the nature of, and the relationships among, three distinct sets of phenomena: (1) an external, material reality, which forms the object of human experience and knowledge; (2) an internal, private consciousness, in which the modern individual experiences the world as a uniquely personal matter; and (3) intersubjectivity, viewed as the communicators' achievement of shared understanding.
