Contexts

Meaning, Truth, and the Use of Language
Erscheinungsjahr 2008
ISBN: 978-0-19-955811-7
Verlag: Oxford University Press

Buch, Englisch, 208 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 135 mm x 202 mm, Gewicht: 249 g

Stefano Predelli comes to the defence of the traditional 'formal' approach to natural-language semantics, arguing that it has been misrepresented not only by its critics, but also by its foremost defenders. In Contexts he offers a fundamental reappraisal, with particular attention to the treatment of indexicality and other forms of contextual dependence which have been the focus of much recent controversy. Predelli shows how his metasemantic approach deals with a variety of important semantic and philosophical puzzles. He analyses the relationship between indexicality and logical validity, discussing well-known problem cases, and demonstrating the limits of token-reflexive systems. He investigates the relationships between truth-conditions and assignments of truth-values at particular points of evaluation, and shows that so-called contextualist worries do not undermine the traditional semantic approach. Finally, he shows that semantic befuddlement about the interpretation of attitude reports is based on an inadequate understanding of the scope of natural language semantics. Contexts will be of great interest to all philosophers of language, and to many linguists.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Predelli, Stefano

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Sprachphilosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Semantik & Pragmatik
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Sprachwissenschaften Sprachphilosophie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- Introduction

- 1: Systems and their Inputs

- 2: Systems and Indexes

- 3: The Vagaries of Action

- 4: The Colour of the Leaves

- 5: The Easy Problem of Belief Reports

- Conclusion

Über Autor(innen)

Stefano Predelli is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Nottingham