Insensitive Semantics~ A Defense of Semantic Minimalism and Speech Act Pluralism, LANGUAGE INFO
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PRAISE FOR
INSENSITIVE SEMANTICS
“This book is an ingenious defense of two positions not widely thought to
be compatible: truth-conditional semantics, on the one hand, and seman-
tic minimalism (the view that extra-linguistic context has only a minimal
effect on semantic content) on the other. Cappelen and Lepore’s highly con-
troversial views are already, and will continue to be, at the center of inquiry
into the nature of linguistic communication.”
J
ASON
S
TANLEY
, U
NIVERSITY OF
M
ICHIGAN
“To what extent should a theory of human semantic competence incorpo-
rate an account of context-dependence? Cappelen and Lepore offer an inter-
esting answer; namely, only to the extent that, by virtue of the meanings of
certain linguistic forms, it absolutely has to. Particular examples will be
debated, and we may hope clarified, as the scope and limits of semantic
investigation are drawn more tightly. In the meantime, Cappelen and
Lepore have performed a singular service in bringing together the threads
of the contextualist debate, and in formulating a minimalist alternative to
some current trends.”
J
AMES
H
IGGINBOTHAM
, U
NIVERSITY OF
S
OUTHERN
C
ALIFORNIA
“This is a pleasingly spare yet instructively sophisticated account of how
Davidsonians can accommodate the massive context sensitivity of language
use. And the authors offer powerful arguments that suggest limits, rarely
respected, on attempts to diagnose this sensitivity in terms of indexicality.
Good stuff.”
P
AUL
P
IETROSKI
, U
NIVERSITY OF
M
ARYLAND
Insensitive Semantics
A Defense of Semantic
Minimalism and Speech
Act Pluralism
Herman Cappelen and Ernie Lepore
© 2005 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd
BLACKWELL PUBLISHING
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108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK
550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia
The right of Herman Cappelen and Ernie Lepore to be identified as the Authors
of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs,
and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK
Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the
publisher.
First published 2005 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cappelen, Herman.
Insensitive semantics : a defense of semantic minimalism and speech act
pluralism / Herman Cappelen and Ernie Lepore.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-4051-2674-4 (hardback : alk. paper) – ISBN 1-4051-2675-2 (pbk. : alk.
paper) 1. Semantics. 2. Semantics (Philosophy) 3. Context (Linguistics)
4. Minimalist theory (Linguistics) 5. Speech acts (Linguistics) I. LePore,
Ernest, 1950– II. Title.
P325.C285 2005
401
.43–dc22
2004015918
A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
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sustainable forestry policy, and which has been manufactured from pulp
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publisher ensures that the text paper and cover board used have met acceptable
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¢
Herman Cappelen dedicates this volume to Kat
Ernie Lepore dedicates it to two old friends – Brian McLaughlin,
who taught him life, and Barry Loewer, who retaught
him philosophy
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