Full Description
Fifteen specially written papers examine the ways in which the content of what we say is dependent on the context in which we say it. At the centre of the current debate on this subject is Cappelen and Lepore's claim that context-sensitivity in language is best captured by a combination of semantic minimalism and speech act pluralism. Using this theory as their starting point, the contributors to this volume develop a variety of different views about the role of context in communication, and reveal its wide-ranging implications for all issues in the philosophy of language and linguistics.
Contents
Introduction: Semantics and Pragmatics: Some Central Issues ; PART I: THE DEFENCE OF MODERATE CONTEXTUALISM ; 1. Content, Context and Composition ; 2. A Little Sensitivity goes a Long Way ; 3. Radical Minimalism, Moderate Contextualism ; 4. How and Why to Be a Moderate Contextualist ; 5. Moderately Insensitive Semantics ; 6. Sense and Insensitivity: Or where Minimalism meets Contextualism ; 7. Prudent Semantics Meets Wanton Speech Act Pluralism ; PART II: ON CRITIQUES OF SEMANTIC MINIMALISM ; 8. How Insensitive Can You Be? Meanings, Propositions, Context, and Semantical Underdeterminacy ; 9. Semantic Minimalism and Nonindexical Contextualism ; 10. Minimal (Disagreement about) Semantics ; 11. Minimal Propositions, Cognitive Safety Mechanisms, and Psychological Reality ; 12. Minimalism and Modularity ; 13. Minimalism, Psychological Reality, Meaning and Use ; PART II: BACK TO SEMANTIC MINIMALISM ; 14. Minimalism versus Contextualism in Semantics ; Index
