An attempt to develop a framework for understanding the nature of meaning. First L. argues for a psychologistic or mentalistic use theory of meaning (i.e. 'intention' is one of the key concepts, though L. does not lose sight of conventions either) in which the notion 'performative' is central: human action and its psychological conditions are basic constituents of the framework in question. Then some objections against this argument are discussed and several implications are made explicit. One of those implications is the view that linguistic actions, like all actions, are universals: they are objective and repeatable aspects of a public world.