Semantic plasticity and speech reports
Most meanings we express belong to large families of variant meanings, among which it would be implausible to suppose that some are much more apt for being expressed than others. This abundance of candidate meanings creates pressure to think that the proposition attributing any particular meaning to...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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Duke University Press
2013
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| _version_ | 1797099561523609600 |
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| author | Dorr, C Hawthorne, J |
| author_facet | Dorr, C Hawthorne, J |
| author_sort | Dorr, C |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Most meanings we express belong to large families of variant meanings, among which it would be implausible to suppose that some are much more apt for being expressed than others. This abundance of candidate meanings creates pressure to think that the proposition attributing any particular meaning to an expression is modally plastic: its truth depends very sensitively on the exact microphysical state of the world. However, such plasticity seems to threaten ordinary counterfactuals whose consequents contain speech reports, since it is hard to see how we could reasonably be confident in a counterfactual whose consequent can be true only if a certain very finely tuned microphysical configuration obtains. This essay develops the foregoing puzzle and explores several possible solutions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T05:25:32Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:e06bea4b-c8cb-44dc-9a07-ee8c3ca41448 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T05:25:32Z |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publisher | Duke University Press |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:e06bea4b-c8cb-44dc-9a07-ee8c3ca414482022-03-27T09:47:03ZSemantic plasticity and speech reportsJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:e06bea4b-c8cb-44dc-9a07-ee8c3ca41448PhilosophyEnglishFaculty of PhilosophyDuke University Press2013Dorr, CHawthorne, JMost meanings we express belong to large families of variant meanings, among which it would be implausible to suppose that some are much more apt for being expressed than others. This abundance of candidate meanings creates pressure to think that the proposition attributing any particular meaning to an expression is modally plastic: its truth depends very sensitively on the exact microphysical state of the world. However, such plasticity seems to threaten ordinary counterfactuals whose consequents contain speech reports, since it is hard to see how we could reasonably be confident in a counterfactual whose consequent can be true only if a certain very finely tuned microphysical configuration obtains. This essay develops the foregoing puzzle and explores several possible solutions. |
| spellingShingle | Philosophy Dorr, C Hawthorne, J Semantic plasticity and speech reports |
| title | Semantic plasticity and speech reports |
| title_full | Semantic plasticity and speech reports |
| title_fullStr | Semantic plasticity and speech reports |
| title_full_unstemmed | Semantic plasticity and speech reports |
| title_short | Semantic plasticity and speech reports |
| title_sort | semantic plasticity and speech reports |
| topic | Philosophy |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT dorrc semanticplasticityandspeechreports AT hawthornej semanticplasticityandspeechreports |