Buch, Englisch, 1 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 998 g
Buch, Englisch, 1 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 998 g
ISBN: 978-0-19-927052-1
Verlag: OUP Oxford
In 1905, Bertrand Russell published 'On Denoting' in which he proposed and defended a quantificational account of definite descriptions. Forty-five years later, in 'On Referring', Peter Strawson claimed that Russell was mistaken: definite descriptions do not function as quantifiers but (paradigmatically) as referring expressions. Ever since, scores of theorists have attempted to adjudicate this debate. Others have gone beyond the question of the proper analysis of definite descriptions, focusing instead on the complex relations between definites, indefinites, and pronouns. These relations are often examined with attention to the phenomena of scope and anaphora.
This collection assembles nineteen new papers on definite descriptions and related topics. The contributors include both philosophers and linguists, many of whom have been active participants in the various debates concerning descriptions. The volume contains a brief general introduction and is divided into six sections, each of which is accompanied by a detailed introduction of its own. Several of the sections concern issues associated with the Russell/Strawson debate. These include the sections on incomplete descriptions, the referential/attributive distinction, and presupposition and truth value gaps. There is also a section on the representation of definites and indefinites in semantic theory, containing papers that reject certain core assumptions of the Russellian paradigm. Linguists interested in definites have traditionally been concerned with how such expressions interact with other expressions, including pronouns and indefinites. They have explored, and continue to explore, these interactions through the complex phenomena of scope and anaphora. In the section dealing with anaphoric pronouns and descriptions, indefinites and dynamic syntax/semantics, five linguists propose and defend their views on these and related issues. Finally, there is a section that concerns the relation between proper names and descriptions and, more particularly, the idea that some names, those introduced into the language by description, are semantically equivalent to definite descriptions.
Autoren/Hrsg.
Fachgebiete
Weitere Infos & Material
- Part I: Incomplete Descriptions
- 1: Francois Recanati: Descriptions and Situations
- 2: Ernie Lepore: An Abuse of Context in Semantics: The Case of Incomplete Definite Descriptions
- 3: Stephen Neale: This, That, and the Other
- Part II: The Referential/Attributive Distinction
- 4: Kent Bach: Descriptions: Points of Reference
- 5: Nathan Salmon: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
- 6: Geoffrey Nunberg: Descriptive Indexicals and Indexical Descriptions
- 7: Michael Devitt: The Case for Referential Descriptions
- Part III: Presupposition and Truth-Value Gaps
- 8: Kai von Fintel: Would you Believe It? The King of France is Back! (Presuppositions and Truth-Value Intuitions)
- 9: Jay Atlas: Descriptions, Linguistic Topic/Comment and Negative Existentials
- Part IV: Representation of Definites and Indefinites in Semantic Theory
- 10: Mark Sainsbury: Referring Descriptions
- 11: Joseph Almog: The Vernacular and the Omniscient Observer of History
- 12: Peter Ludlow and Gabriel Segal: On a Unitary Analysis for Definite and Indefinite Descriptions
- Part V: Anaphoric Pronouns and Descriptions, Indefinites and Dynamic Semantics/Syntax
- 13: Richard Breheny: Indefinites and Anaphoric Independence: A Case for Dynamic Semantics and Pragmatics?
- 14: Paul Dekker: Grounding Dynamic Semantics
- 15: Craige Roberts: Pronouns as Definites
- 16: Alice ter Meulen: Anaphoric Definite Descriptions
- 17: Ruth Kempson and Wilfried Meyer-Viol: Indefinites and Scope Choice
- Part VI: Names and Descriptions
- 18: Robin Jeshion: Descriptive Descriptive Names
- 19: Marga Reimer: Descriptively Introduced Names
- References
- Index
