Searle’ün Dil ve Bilinç Anlayışından Hareketle Arrival Filmine Bir Bakış
A Look at the Film Arrival Based on Searle's Understanding of Language and Consciousness

Summary/Abstract: This article aims to explore the philosophical intersections between Denis Villeneuve’s science fiction film Arrival (2016) and John Searle’s philosophy of language. The communication process established by linguist Louise Banks with an alien species, the heptapods, is presented in the film not merely as a translation activity, but as a mental and existential transformation. This transformation is analyzed in comparison with Searle’s speech act theory, the concept of intentionality, and specifically the Chinese Room Experiment. According to Searle, meaning arises from the mental content and contextual intention of the speaker, rather than from the formal processing of symbols. In Arrival, however, Louise transforms from a subject who merely decodes the heptapod language into one who experiences its perception of time and its semantic world. In this context, the film serves as a cinematographic embodiment of Searle’s thesis that "meaning cannot be produced in mindless systems." Furthermore, it is argued that language functions not merely as a tool for communication, but as a structure that constitutes consciousness and the perception of time. By interrogating the relationship between meaning, consciousness, and language on a philosophical and phenomenological level, the study interprets Arrival not just as a science fiction narrative, but as a profound metaphor for consciousness and language.

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