Compositionality, Context and Semantic Values - Essays in Honour of Ernie Lepore

Are natural languages genuinely compositional? What roles does context play in linguistic communication, and by what means? In particular, does context interfere with the compositional determination of truth conditions? What meanings should theorists assign to sentences if compositionality is to be retained? These are the central questions of this important volume of new philosophical essays in honour of Ernie Lepore.

List of contents

Compositionality.- "If", "Unless", and Quantification.- Bridging the Paratactic Gap.- Context and "What Is Said".- On the Epistemic Utility of What is Said.- In Defense of Context Shifting Arguments.- Contextualism, Skepticism and Objectivity.- On Failing to Capture some (or even all) of what is Communicated.- Semantic Values.- The Disunity of Truth.- Descriptions, Negation, and Focus.- Evidentials: Some Preliminary Distinctions.- The Direct Expression of Metaphorical Content.- The Empirical Case for Bare Demonstratives in Vision.

Summary

Are natural languages genuinely compositional? What roles does context play in linguistic communication, and by what means? In particular, does context interfere with the compositional determination of truth conditions? What meanings should theorists assign to sentences if compositionality is to be retained? These are the central questions of this important volume of new philosophical essays in honour of Ernie Lepore.

Product details

• Assisted by: Rober J Stainton (Editor), Robert J Stainton (Editor), Robert J Stainton (Editor), Robert J. Stainton (Editor), Viger (Editor), Viger (Editor), Christopher Viger (Editor)
• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 29.06.2009
• EAN: 9781402083099
• ISBN: 978-1-4020-8309-9
• No. of pages: 282
• Dimensions: 157 mm x 241 mm x 23 mm
• Weight: 594 g
• Illustrations: XII, 282 p.
• Series: Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy; Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy; Studies in Linguistics and Phi
• Subject: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative linguistics