Words without Meaning - Couverture souple

Gauker, Christopher

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0262571625 ISBN 13 : 9780262571623

Editeur : Bradford Books, 2002

Synopsis

According to the received view of linguistic communication, the primary function of language is to enable speakers to reveal the propositional contents of their thoughts to hearers. Speakers are able to do this because they share with their hearers an understanding of the meanings of words. Christopher Gauker rejects this conception of language, arguing that it rests on an untenable conception of mental representation and yields a wrong account of the norms of discourse.

Gauker's alternative starts with the observation that conversations have goals and that the best way to achieve the goal of a conversation depends on the circumstances under which the conversation takes place. These goals and circumstances determine a context of utterance quite apart from the attitudes of the interlocutors. The fundamental norms of discourse are formulated in terms of the conditions under which sentences are assertible in such contexts.

Words without Meaning contains original solutions to a wide array of outstanding problems in the philosophy of language, including the logic of quantification, the logic of conditionals, the semantic paradoxes, the nature of presupposition and implicature, and the nature and attribution of beliefs.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Christopher Gauker is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cincinnati.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Bradford Books
• Date d'édition: 2002
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0262571625
• ISBN 13: 9780262571623
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 312
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible