What are the prospects for a realist account of meaning that is not in
the head? This paper uses some case studies to demonstrate the diffic
ulty that any such account faces is how to rule out letting an account
of meaning in the head in through the back door. As illustrated, one
way a cognitivist account can come back into the picture is by no way
of appeals to 'reasonableness'. Another is by way of questions of what
is termed the 'reach' of meaning.