Constructions in Use

Semantics is one of the core disciplines of philosophy of language. There are basically two strands of established theories: use-based and truth-conditional, with the latter being the dominant variety. This dominance has been questioned recently by linguists who embrace a research paradigm that is known as construction grammar. As construction grammar is use-based, it seems natural to suppose that its success is indirect support for use-based semantics in philosophy. This is true. But there's still a lot to do. Although there are use-based theories that fit quite well with current research in linguistics, they are far from being perfect. In particular, the most popular theory in that area is still tied to some of the main motivations behind truth-conditional semantics. 'Constructions in Use' offers an alternative by proposing to let this legacy go. Instead, it argues that philosophical semantics is best off if it goes for an entirely use-based theory.

List of contents

Frontmatter -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- 1 Introduction -- I. Meaning -- 2 Meaning: Primary, Pragmatic, and Others -- 3 Usage-based Theories of Meaning -- 4 Truth-conditional Theories of Meaning -- II. Disposition -- 5 Theories of Truth & Meaning -- 6 Dispositional Analyses -- III. Method -- 7 Semantic-Methodological Concerns -- 8 On Phenomena and Tokenings -- 9 Conclusion -- Bibliography

About the author

Alexander auf der Straße, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf.

Product details

• Authors: Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Alexander auf der Straße
• Publisher: Düsseldorf University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 17.11.2022
• EAN: 9783957580337
• ISBN: 978-3-95758-033-7
• No. of pages: 338
• Dimensions: 165 mm x 30 mm x 230 mm
• Weight: 522 g
• Series: Dissertations in Language and Cognition,; Dissertations in Language and Cognition, 4
• Subject: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative linguistics