Rule-Following and Meaning

by Miller, Alexander; Wright, Crispin

• ISBN13: 9780773523814
• ISBN10: 0773523812
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-05-01
• Publisher: McGill Queens Univ Pr

Summary

The rule-following debate, in its concern with the metaphysics and epistemology of linguistic meaning and mental content, goes to the heart of the most fundamental questions of contemporary philosophy of mind and language. This volume gathers together the most important contributions to the topic, including papers by Simon Blackburn, Paul Boghossian, Graeme Forbes, Warren Goldfarb, Paul Horwich, John McDowell, Colin McGinn, Ruth Millikan, Philip Pettit, George Wilson, and Jose Zalabardo. This debate has centred on Saul Kripke's reading of the rule-following sections in Wittgenstein and his consequent posing of a "sceptical paradox" that threatens our every day notions of linguistic meaning and mental content. These essays are attempts to respond to this challenge and represent some of the most important work in contemporary theory of meaning. They examine the notion of meaning; whether it is possible to find a suitable meaning-constituting fact from our previous behaviour or mental histories; objections to, and defenses of, dispositional accounts of meaning; the plausibility of non-factualism about meaning; our attempts to develop non-reductionist accounts of meaning; and the sources of the normativity which attaches to meaning, such as the linguistic practice of the community or the dispositions of the individual. With an introductory essay and a comprehensive guide to further reading the book is an excellent resource for courses in philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, Wittgenstein, and metaphysics, as well as for all philosophers, linguists, and cognitive scientists with interests in these areas. Contributors include Simon Blackburn (University of Cambridge), Paul Boghossian (New York University), Graeme Forbes (Tulane University), Warren Goldfarb (Harvard University), Paul Horwich (City University of New York), John McDowell (University of Pittsburgh), Colin McGinn (Rutgers University), Alexander Miller, Ruth Garrett Millikan (University of Connecticut), Philip Pettit (Princeton University), George. M. Wilson (University of California, Davis), Crispin Wright, and Jose L. Zalabardo (University College London).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	vii
The Contributors	ix
Introduction	1	(15)
Alexander Miller
Skepticism and Semantic Knowledge	16	(12)
Graeme Forbes
The Individual Strikes Back	28	(17)
Simon Blackburn
Wittgenstein on Following a Rule	45	(36)
John McDowell
Wittgenstein, Kripke and Non-Reductionism about Meanings	81	(11)
Colin McGinn
Kripke on Wittgenstein on Rules	92	(16)
Warren Goldfarb
Critical Notice of Colin McGinn's Wittgenstein on Meaning	108	(21)
Crispin Wright
Meaning and Intention as Judgement Dependent	129	(12)
Crispin Wright
The Rule-Following Considerations	141	(47)
Paul A. Boghossian
The Reality of Rule-Following	188	(21)
Philip Pettit
Truth Rules, Hoverflies, and the Kripke-Wittgenstein Paradox	209	(25)
Ruth Garrett Millikan
Kripke on Wittgenstein on Normativity	234	(26)
George M. Wilson
Meaning, Use and Truth	260	(14)
Paul Horwich
Kripke's Normativity Argument	274	(21)
Jose Zalabardo
Guide to Further Reading	295	(5)
Index	300