Minimal Semantics

by Borg, Emma

• ISBN13: 9780199270255
• ISBN10: 0199270252
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-09-09
• Publisher: Clarendon Press

Summary

Minimal Semantics asks what a theory of literal linguistic meaning is for--if you were to be given a working theory of meaning for a language right now, what would you be able to do with it? Emma Borg sets out to defend a formal approach to semantic theorizing from a relatively new type of opponent--advocates of what she calls "dual pragmatics." According to dual pragmatists, rich pragmatic processes play two distinct roles in linguistic comprehension: as well as operating in a post-semantic capacity to determine the implicatures of an utterance, they also operate prior to the determination of truth-conditional content for a sentence. That is to say, they have an integral role to play within what is usually thought of as the semantic realm. Borg believes dual pragmatic accounts constitute the strongest contemporary challenge to standard formal approaches to semantics since they challenge the formal theorist to show not merely that there is some role for formal processes on route to determination of semantic content, but that such processes are sufficient for determining content. Minimal Semantics provides a detailed examination of this school of thought, introducing readers who are unfamiliar with the topic to key ideas like relevance theory and contextualism, and looking in detail at where these accounts diverge from the formal approach. Borg's defense of formal semantics has two main parts: first, she argues that the formal approach is most naturally compatible with an important and well-grounded psychological theory, namely the Fodorian modular picture of the mind. Then she argues that the main arguments adduced by dual pragmatists against formal semantics--concerning apparent contextual intrusions into semantic content--can in fact be countered by a formal theory. The defense holds, however, only if we are sensitive to the proper conditions of success for a semantic theory. Specifically, we should reject a range of onerous constraints on semantic theorizing (e.g., that it answer epistemic or metaphysical questions, or that it explain our communicative skills) and instead adopt a quite minimal picture of semantics.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(14)
1 A Tale of Two Theories	15	(59)
1.1 Formal Semantics	18	(8)
1.2 The Challenge from Context	26	(11)
1.3 Dual Pragmatics	37	(15)
1.4 The Dispute between Formal Semantics and Dual Pragmatics	52	(10)
1.5 Logical Form	62	(12)
2 Modularity	74	(73)
2.1 What is Modularity?	75	(5)
2.2 Formal Semantics and Modular Explanations	80	(6)
2.3 Modular Properties of Semantic Comprehension	86	(22)
2.4 Semantic Modularity and Speech Acts	108	(2)
2.5 The Semantic Relevance of 'What is Said'	110	(21)
2.6 Conventional Implicatures and Generalized Conversational Implicatures	131	(5)
2.7 Word Learning	136	(4)
2.8 Ambiguity	140	(7)
3 Overt Context-Sensitivity: The Problems of Indexicality	147	(62)
3.1 The Problems of Indexicality	149	(9)
3.2 Kaplan's Theory of Direct Reference	158	(6)
3.3 A Truth-Conditional Account of Demonstratives and Indexicals	164	(3)
3.4 The Status of Content	167	(29)
3.5 The Nature of Character	196	(7)
3.6 Objection: Reflexive Content is not Semantic Content at all	203	(6)
4 Covert Context-Sensitivity:The Problems of Underdetermination, Inappropriateness, and Indeterminacy	209	(50)
4.1 What are Unarticulated Constituents?	212	(3)
4.2 Formal Semantics Underdetermines Meaning	215	(2)
4.3 Formal Semantics Fails to Determine Intuitive Meaning	217	(4)
4.4 Meaning is Indeterminate	221	(4)
4.5 Rejecting the Argument that Formal Semantics Underdetermines Meaning	225	(21)
4.6 Rejecting the Argument that Sentences without UCs are not Appropriately Truth-Evaluable	246	(13)
5 Minimal Semantics and the Global Art of Communication	259	(14)
5.1 Minimal Semantics and Pragmatics 260
5.2 Minimal Semantics and the Role of Context	264	(3)
5.3 Future Directions	267	(6)
References	273	(8)
Author Index	281	(4)
Subject Index	285