Preliminaries to a psycho-pragmatic theory of understanding. The author takes three 'options' for granted: the heuristic orientation of the theory of language (understanding as a constraint on meaning-in-language), the pragmatic orientation of the theory of understanding (understanding as a practical ability to understand contexts), and the epistemological orientation to the theory of language (understanding resting on the interpreter's competential knowledge of strategies of justification). In Parret's view, it is evident that the theory of understanding should appeal to broad anthropological concepts such as rationality and the interplay of the essential faculties of judging and wanting.