On how to legitimately constrain a semantic theory
Abstract Semanticists often restrict their theories by imposing constraints on the parameters that can be employed for interpreting the expressions of a language. Such constraints are based on non-logical features of actual contexts of utterance, but they often have important effects on issues that do pertain to logic, like analyticity or entailment. For example, Kaplan’s restriction to so-called “proper contexts” was required in order to count “I am here now” as valid. In this paper I argue that constraints of this kind are often posited in an arbitrary and non-consistent way, and that they yield the intended results only at the price of imposing ad hoc principles whose justification could…
BOOK REVIEW: MARQUES, T. & WIKFORSS, Å (EDS.), Shifting Concepts (Oxford University Press, 2020, 284 Pages).
Abstract In this review I provide a brief analysis of the main features of the collective volume Shifting Concepts (Oxford University Press, 2020), edited by Teresa Marques and Asa Wikforss. The volume addresses several related topics, and it contains contributions from psychologists and philosophers. It deals with the topic of concept variation understood in a broad sense, for it tackles diachronic, contextual, interpersonal and even intrapersonal variation; besides, the second part of the book is devoted to the topic of concept revision and amelioration. I provide a brief description of the book and then I critically assess each of the contributions.
De Se as Variable Binding: On Context-Sensitivity in Utterance Reports
In this paper I will be defending a view of de se attitudes according to which all the inaccuracies attributed to Kaplan’s Logic of Demonstratives having to do with the nature of de se attitude reports follow a single pattern: they are argued to correspond to bound uses of the variables contributed by the pronouns. I will argue that a traditional view of propositions suffices for dealing with these phenomena from a linguistic point of view.
The Past and Future of Analytic Philosophy in Spain : XX Years of Taller d?Investigació en Filosofia
Introduction to the Special Issue for the XX Years of TIF, ed. by M. Cabrera, J. Gimeno-Simo and S. Perez-Gonzalez Introducion al Numero Monografico que conmemora los XX anos del TIF, editado por M. Cabrera, J. Gimeno-Simo y S. Perez-Gonzalez Introducio al Numero Monografic que commemora els XX anys del TIF, editat per M. Cabrera, J. Gimeno-Simo i S. Perez-Gonzalez
Semàntica i pragmàtica, contingut i context
Resum: Aquest article te com a objectiu resumir els punts principals del debat sobre la divisio entre semantica i pragmatica. S’hi expliquen les tres principals postures dins la disputa i s’hi proporciona un esquema general per determinar quines teories encaixen a cadascuna d’elles. L’article conclou amb una breu discussio sobre la naturalesa de la nocio de contingut i el seu rol al debat. Paraules clau : minimisme, contextualisme, relativisme, contingut explicit. Abstract: The aim of this paper is to summarize the main lines of the debate about the semantics-pragmatics divide. The three main contenders in the dispute are explained, and a general schema for fitting theories into each of the…