I like what you've said. Here's the connection I made between my technical knowledge and Foucault's school.
A C.S. professor of mine, when lecturing on semantics, i.e. the interpretation of texts, be they intended for computers or humans, remarked that "means" is a three-place relation:
R(a,b,c) === a means b to c
That is, a tuple is in the relation if the text "a" means "b" to an interpreter "c".
Typically, the "c" part is left out. But introducing it allows one to model subjectivity and interpretation, which is one way to think about what the poststructuralist intellectuals were getting at.
This is a common technique in conceptual analysis. It reminds me of Castelfranchi's theory of trust. While trust was often modeled as a two place relation (X trusts Y) he turned it into a five place relation (X trusts Y for task T useful for goal G in context C).
Thank you so much for the pointer. I had not considered the connection of explicitly accounting for subjectivity in interpretation (for semantics) to (as in your example) the theories of agents and trust.
And I've got to say, really taking this in (the importance of subjectivity and context) can help in real-world situations as well.
A C.S. professor of mine, when lecturing on semantics, i.e. the interpretation of texts, be they intended for computers or humans, remarked that "means" is a three-place relation:
That is, a tuple is in the relation if the text "a" means "b" to an interpreter "c".Typically, the "c" part is left out. But introducing it allows one to model subjectivity and interpretation, which is one way to think about what the poststructuralist intellectuals were getting at.