Semantic Under-determinacy and Communication [electronic resource] /
Belleri, D.author.
Combining a fresh, previously unexplored view of the subject with a detailed overview of the past and ongoing philosophical discussion on the matter, this book investigates the phenomenon of semantic under-determinacy by seeking an answer to the questions of how it can be explained, and how communication is possible despite it.
Description based upon print version of record.
Cover; Contents; List of Tables; Preface and Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1 Preliminaries; 2 Why semantic under-determinacy is problematic; 3 Taking semantic under-determinacy seriously; 4 From semantic under-determinacy to context-sensitivity; 5 Understanding utterance comprehension; Part I: On Semantic Under-Determinacy; 1 Arguing for Semantic Under-Determinacy; 1.1 Arguments from Incompleteness; 1.1.1 Incompleteness as genericity; 1.1.2 The slippery slope of incompleteness arguments; 1.2 Arguments from context-shifts; 1.2.1 The slippery slope of Context-Shifting Arguments
1.2.2 The objection from 'impoverishment'1.2.3 The meta-theoretical objection; 1.2.4 The 'many understandings' version of Context-Shifting Arguments is fallacious; 1.3 The Argument from Unclear Applications; 1.3.1 The Argument from Unclear Applications is fallacious; Conclusion; 2 The Peculiarity of Semantic Under-Determinacy; 2.1 The peculiarity of semantic under-determinacy; 2.1.1 Semantic under-determinacy is not ambiguity; 2.1.2 Semantic under-determinacy is not vagueness; 2.1.3 Semantic under-determinacy is not indexicality; 2.1.4 Semantic under-determinacy is not syntactic ellipsis
2.2 The under-articulation view2.2.1 Under-articulation and Effability; 2.2.2 Ineffability and the 'gappy picture'; 2.2.3 Effable mental contents; Conclusion; Part II: Semantic Under-Determinacy and Communication; 3 Semantic Under-Determinacy and the Debate on Context-Sensitivity; 3.1 Extreme Contextualism; 3.2 Radical Contextualism; 3.3 Indexical Contextualism; 3.4 Minimalism; 3.5 Ultra-Minimalism; 3.6 Non-Indexical Contextualism; Conclusion; 4 Semantic Under-Determinacy and Conceptual Constraints; 4.1 A preference for a semantic (rather than pragmatic) account
4.2 The plausibility of a semantic, non-syntactic account4.2.1 Semantic structure can be more complex than syntactic structure; 4.3 The Conceptual Constraints View; 4.3.1 Stating the view; 4.3.2 Conceptual constraints and the argument/ adjunct distinction; 4.3.3 Conceptual constraints and their semantic effects; 4.4 Concepts and words: towards Molecularism; Conclusion; 5 Semantic Under-Determinacy, Comprehension and Meta-Representation; 5.1 Inferential approaches: from Grice to Relevance Theory; 5.2 Non-inferential approaches; 5.3 Inferences, after all
5.4 Reconsidering the role of meta-representation5.5 Conceptual constraints and non-meta-representational comprehension; 5.6 Advantages and objections; 5.7 Egocentric communicators; Conclusion; Notes; Bibliography; Index
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Combining a fresh, previously unexplored view of the subject with a detailed overview of the past and ongoing philosophical discussion on the matter, this book investigates the phenomenon of semantic under-determinacy by seeking an answer to the questions of how it can be explained, and how communication is possible despite it.
Language and languages—Philosophy.
Semantics.
Pragmatics.
Philosophy of Language.
Semantics.
Pragmatics.