Philosophy of language Books

Book SynopsisThis volume contains thirteen papers, including two previously unpublished, by Gareth Evans, a brilliant philosopher who died in 1980 at the age of 34. The treatments of problems about language are here informed by a lively sense of interconnections with issues in metaphysics and the problem of mind, and some of the papers are primarly directed to problems in these fields. Anyone who is concerned with the central questions of philosophy will be interested in this collection.Trade ReviewGareth Evans ... was widely regarded as the most brilliant and exciting philosopher of his generation ... The present volume now collects his previously published papers ... together with two substantial unpublished pieces ... These two papers, like the older ones, exemplify Evans's great virtues--his ability to develop sophisticated arguments with great clarity, his lightly worn technical expertise, and above all his capacity to get to the very heart of philosophical issues. This is analytical philosophy of the very highest quality. Those who already know Evans's work will be grateful to have his scattered papers brought together in this handsome volume; and any professional philosopher or advanced student unfamiliar with his work has an intellectual treat in store. * British Book News *

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Book SynopsisSubjective, Intersubjective, Objective is the long-awaited third volume of philosophical writings by Donald Davidson, whose influence on philosophy since the 1960s has been deep and broad. His first two collections, published by OUP in the early 1980s, are recognized as contemporary classics. Now Davidson presents a selection of his work on knowledge, mind, and language from the 1980s and the 1990s. We all have knowledge of our own minds, knowledge of the contents of other minds, and knowledge of the shared environment. Davidson examines the nature and status of each of these three sorts of knowledge, and the connections and differences among them. Along the way he has illuminating things to say about truth, human rationality, and the relations among language, thought, and the world.This new volume offers a rich and rewarding feast for anyone interested in philosophy today, and is essential reading for anyone working on its central topics.Trade ReviewDavidson's philosophical project is one of the most remarkable and productive of the twentieth century. * Kirk Ludwig, Mind Journal *There is a wealth of fascinating ideas here ... Davidson's project is ambitious, but his vision is immensely powerful and its execution highly ingenious. It is a very considerable achievement at the intersection of epistemology, philosophy of mind and philosophy of language. * Philosophical Investigations *Davidson writes philosophy like Wagner wrote operas: nothing less than everything is ever at stake. * Jerry Fodor, London Review of Books *Ces essais contiennent les principes de sa théorie de la connaissance. Réconcilier, comme ce volume s'en donne le programme, connaissance de soi, connaissance d'autrui, et connaissance du monde commun, n'est pas un programme aisé. Quoi qu'il en soit, l'ambition est là, et la constance, la profondeur de la recherche de Davidson depuis une vingtaine d'années sont manifestes. A peu près tous les thèmes classiques de la philosophie analytique sont ici retravaillés, approfondis, et modifiés, dans une prose extrêmement travaillée. Peu de philosophes ont eu une influence si forte sur la philosophie de ces derniè res dé cennies, aussi bien dans les pays anglophones qu'en Europe. Qu'on suive ou non Davidson dans son ambitieux projet, qui ne vise rien moins qu'à concilier naturalisme et normativité, la lecture de ce volume est un must. * Pascal Engel, Revue Philosophique *Table of Contents1. FIRST PERSON AUTHORITY (1984) ; 7. RATIONAL ANIMALS (1982) ; 10. A COHERENCE THEORY (1983)

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Book SynopsisTruth, Language, and History is the much-anticipated final volume of Donald Davidson''s philosophical writings. In the four groups of essays that comprise it, Davidson continues to explore the themes that occupied him for more than fifty years: the relations between language and the world; speaker intention and linguistic meaning; language and mind; mind and body; mind and world; mind and other minds. He asks: what is the role of the concept of truth in these explorations? And, can a scientific world view make room for human thought without reducing it to something material and mechanistic? Davidson''s underlying picture, which can be seen in many of these essays, is that we are acquainted directly with the world, not indirectly via some intermediary such as sense-data, representations, or language itself; that thought emerges in the first place through interpersonal communication in a shared material world, and continues to develop as we engage each other in dialogue; and that languagTrade Review'While every one of the five volumes of Davidson's essays is a philosophical treasure trove, all containing influential and important essays, this final volume is especially interesting since it encompasses a number of key topics that are of special significance in Davidson's thinking. . . . One of the great merits of this volume is that it does indeed give a sense of the breadth of Davidson's thinking, and of the extent to which it extended beyond the usual confines of traditional "analytic" philosophy. . . . the radical and idiosyncratic character of Davidson's thinking is still, it seems to me, very much underappreciated and often unrecognised . . . The hope is that the publication of the essays in this volume, along with the essays included in the other four . . . will eventually give rise to a more integrated appreciation of Davidson's work - work that constitutes one of the landmarks of twentieth-century philosophy' * Jeff Malpas, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *Table of ContentsTRUTH ; LANGUAGE ; ANOMALOUS MONISM ; HISTORICAL THOUGHTS

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Book SynopsisProvides a comprehensive introduction to the major philosophical theories attempting to explain the workings of language.Trade ReviewOriginal, provocative, and illuminating....Deserves to be widely read. Blackburn's mastery of the issues, and of the extensive literature, is very impressive, his philosophical judgment is good, and his treatment of the issues is consistently intelligent, sensitive, fair-minded, and insightful. * Nous *

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Book SynopsisAn attempt to provide a unified solution to a number of philosophical puzzles through a study of blindspots, ie consistent propositions that cannot be rationally accepted by certain individuals even if they are true.Trade Review'the book is challenging and extremely interesting. It will, I am certain, provike a good deal of exciting philosophical discussion.'Times Literary Supplement'Blindspots is full of stimulating discussions of innumerable philosophically interesting puzzles and problems ... It shows a lively sense of humour ... and reveals a knack for the provocative' Lloyd Humberstone, Monash University, Australasian Journal of Philosophy

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Book SynopsisVagueness leads to indeterminacies in the application of the law in many cases. This book responds to the challenges that those indeterminacies pose to a theory of law and adjudication.The book puts controversies in legal theory in a new light, using arguments in the philosophy of language to offer an explanation of the unclarities that arise in borderline cases for the application of vague expressions. But the author also argues that vagueness is a feature of law, and not merely of legal language: the linguistic and non-linguistic resources of the law are commonly vague.These claims have consequences that have seemed unacceptable to many legal theorists. Because law is vague, judges cannot always decide cases by giving effect to the legal rights and obligations of the parties. Judges cannot always treat like cases alike. The ideal of the rule of law seems to be unattainable. The book offers a new articulation of the content of that ideal. It argues that the pursuit of justice and the Table of Contents1. Introduction ; 2. Linguistic Indeterminacy ; 3. Sources of Indeterminacy ; 4. Vagueness and Legal Theory ; 5. How not to Solve the Paradox of the Heap ; 6. The Epistemic Theory of Vagueness ; 7. Vagueness and Similarity ; 8. Vagueness and Interpretation ; 9. The Impossibility of the Rule of Law ; Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisPaolo Mancosu presents a series of innovative studies in the history and the philosophy of logic and mathematics in the first half of the twentieth century. The Adventure of Reason is divided into five main sections: history of logic (from Russell to Tarski); foundational issues (Hilbert''s program, constructivity, Wittgenstein, Gödel); mathematics and phenomenology (Weyl, Becker, Mahnke); nominalism (Quine, Tarski); semantics (Tarski, Carnap, Neurath). Mancosu exploits extensive untapped archival sources to make available a wealth of new material that deepens in significant ways our understanding of these fascinating areas of modern intellectual history. At the same time, the book is a contribution to recent philosophical debates, in particular on the prospects for a successful nominalist reconstruction of mathematics, the nature of finitist intuition, the viability of alternative definitions of logical consequence, and the extent to which phenomenology can hope to account for the exaTrade ReviewThis book contains an enormous amount of material that historians will wish to consult. Mancosu convincingly demonstrates that there is a great deal more that we can still learn about the origins of modern mathematical logic. * Michael Potter, Philosophia Mathematica *Table of ContentsPART 1: HISTORY OF LOGIC; OART 2: FOUNDATIONS OF MATHEMATICS; PART 3: PHENOMENOLOGY AND MATHEMATICS; PART 4: NOMINALISM; PART 5: THE EMERGENCE OF SEMANTICS: TRUTH AND LOGICAL CONSEQUENCE

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Book SynopsisJohn Hawthorne and David Manley present an original treatment of the semantic phenomenon of reference and the cognitive phenomenon of singular thought. In Part I, they argue against the idea that either is tied to a special relation of causal or epistemic acquaintance. Part II challenges the alleged semantic rift between definite and indefinite descriptions on the one hand, and names and demonstratives on the other--a division that has been motivated in part by appeals to considerations of acquaintance. Drawing on recent work in linguistics and philosophical semantics, Hawthorne and Manley explore a more unified account of all four types of expression according to which none of them paradigmatically fits the profile of a referential term. On the preferred framework put forward in The Reference Book, all four types of expression involve existential quantification but admit of uses that exhibit many of the traits associated with reference--a phenomenon that is due to the presence of whatTrade Review'John Hawthorne and David Manley have two main objectives in this excellent book. The first is to demolish the common assumption, following Bertrand Russell, that some kind of acquaintance is required for both (singular) reference and singular thought. The second is to establish a semantic uniformity among four kinds of noun phrases - specific indefinite descriptions, definite descriptions, demonstratives, and proper names ... a wonderful book. The authors' writing style is lively . . . readable, and clear, and their very careful consideration of all sides of every issue should leave readers with a whole new appreciation of the complexity of those issues, and a sense that many of their automatic assumptions about the functioning of noun phrases in English (and most likely other languages as well) need to be revised.' * Barbara Abbott, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *Table of ContentsPART I: AGAINST ACQUAINTANCE; PART II: BEYOND ACQUAINTANCE

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Book SynopsisThis volume presents twenty-two uncollected philosophical essays by Sir Peter Strawson, one of the leading philosophers of the second half of the twentieth century. The essays (two of them previously unpublished) are drawn from seven decades of work, from 1949 to 2003. They span the broad range of Strawson''s work: metaphysics, epistemology, philosophical logic, philosophy of language, ethical theory, and history of philosophy, along with metaphilosophical reflections and intellectual autobiography.Table of ContentsPreface ; 1. Ethical Intuitionism ; 2. In Defence of a Dogma ; 3. Construction and Analysis ; 4. Proper Names ; 5. The Post-Linguistic Thaw ; 6. Analysis, Science, and Metaphysics ; 7. Bennett on Kant's Analytic ; 8. Does Knowledge have Foundations? ; 9. Knowledge and Truth ; 10. Scruton and Wright on Anti-Realism ; 11. Perception and its Objects ; 12. Liberty and Necessity ; 13. Sensibility, Understanding, and the Doctrine of Synthesis ; 14. Two Conceptions of Philosophy ; 15. Review of Paul Grice, Studies in the Way of Words ; 16. Knowing from Words ; 17. What have we learned from Philosophy in the Twentieth Century? ; 18. A Category of Particulars ; 19. Paul Grice ; 20. Why Philosophy? ; 21. Intellectual Autobiography ; 22. A Bit of Intellectual Autobiography ; Index

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Book SynopsisWhat does talk of meaning mean? All thinking consists in natural happenings in the brain. Talk of meaning though, has resisted interpretation in terms of anything that is clearly natural, such as linguistic dispositions. This, Kripke''s Wittgenstein suggests, is because the concept of meaning is normative, on the ''ought'' side of Hume''s divide between is and ought. Allan Gibbard''s previous books Wise Choices, Apt Feelings and Thinking How to Live treated normative discourse as a natural phenomenon, but not as describing the world naturalistically. His theory is a form of expressivism for normative concepts, holding, roughly, that normative statements express states of planning. This new book integrates his expressivism for normative language with a theory of how the meaning of meaning could be normative. The result applies to itself: metaethics expands to address key topics in the philosophy of language, topics which in turn include core parts of metaethics. An upshot is to lessen tTrade ReviewThe book is rich in original ideas and arguments, and the topics canvassed or commented on are significant and bewildering in their number ... serious students of the relevant topics should find its study rewarding, and clearly it is essential reading for anyone working on meaning and normativity. * Teemu Toppinen, Ethics *the most ambitious and innovative attempt to explain meaning since Paul Horwich and Robert Brandom developed their theories in the nineties ... I hope that this splendid book will find a wide audience. It is wonderfully stimulating, opening up vast new territories for investigation. * Christopher S. Hill, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *Table of Contents1. Introduction ; 2. Normativity and Community ; 3. Kripke's Wittgenstein on Meaning ; 4. Correct Belief ; 5. Horwich on Meaning ; 6. The Normative Meaning Role ; 7. Reference, Truth, and Context ; 8. Meaning and Plans ; 9. Interpreting Interpretation ; 10. Expressivism, Non-Naturalism, and Us ; Appendix 1: The Objects of Belief ; Appendix 2: Schroeder on Expressivism ; References ; Index

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Book SynopsisPart of the "Oxford Readings in Philosophy" series, this volume presents a selection of the major writings in the debate on the nature of meaning and reference which started 100 years ago with Frege's essay "On Sense and Reference". This subject lies at the heart of the philosophy of language.Trade Review`Since the 1960's, the Oxford Readings in Philosophy have provided an essential service to all teachers of the subject. ... in a colourful and attractive new format, but the essential aim of the series remains unchanged: to introduce students, as gently as is realistically possible, to the best work in a given area. ... the volume on time is very wide-ranging Cogito:Winter 1993`Excellent for my second year undergraduate course - right on the topics - and making central papers easily available.' Martin Bell, University of York`This is a valuable collection of articles: the quality is outstanding, and the choice is excellent, for courses on the philosophy of language.' David Bell, University of Sheffield`This is a really excellent book.' Hugh Bredin, Queen's University, Belfast`It is excellent for teaching the subject in a British University' Dr G. McCulloch, University of Nottingham`A very useful anthology of seminal essays in this field.' Stephen P. Thornton, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, Ireland`This is an excellent selection of articles.' R. Fellows, University of Bradford`Excellent, nicely priced volume with many of the classic texts.' D.E. Cooper, University of Durham`This is an excellent collection of articles.' Maria Baghramian, University College Dublin`An extremely useful collection on meaning and reference containing classic papers students ought to read.' Dr C. Macdonald, University of Manchester`One of the most useful texts in the series Oxford Readings in Philosophy. It has the most important of the relevant essays.' B.B. Rundle, Trinity College, OxfordTable of ContentsOn sense and reference, Gottlob Frege; letter to Jourdain, Gottlob Frege; descriptions, Bertrand Russell; on referring, P.F. Strawson; mind and verbal dispositions, W.V. Quine; truth and meaning, Donald Davidson; on the sense and reference of a proper name, John McDowell; what does the appeal to use do for the theory of meaning, Michael Dummett; meaning and reference, Hilary Putnam; identity and necessity, Saul Kripke; Putnam's doctrine of natural kind words and Frege's doctrines of sense, reference and extension - can they cohere?, David Wiggins; the causal theory of names, Gareth Evans; Frege's distinction between sense and reference, Michael Dummett; Wittgenstein on following a rule, John McDowell.

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Book SynopsisTowards Non-Being presents an account of the semantics of intentional language--verbs such as ''believes'', ''fears'', ''seeks'', ''imagines''. Graham Priest tackles problems concerning intentional states which are often brushed under the carpet in discussions of intentionality, such as their failure to be closed under deducibility. Priest''s account draws on the work of the late Richard Routley (Sylvan), and proceeds in terms of objects that may be either existent or non-existent, at worlds that may be either possible or impossible. Since Russell, non-existent objects have had a bad press in Western philosophy; Priest mounts a full-scale defence. In the process, he offers an account of both fictional and mathematical objects as non-existent. The book will be of central interest to anyone who is concerned with intentionality in the philosophy of mind or philosophy of language, the metaphysics of existence and identity, the philosophy or fiction, the philosophy of mathematics, or cognitTrade Reviewthere is a good deal inTNB2to interest readers ofTNB1.Of the latter, I once wrote that 'while I disagree with a very great deal of it, this is a stimulating, thought-provoking, and challenging book. This is a turbulent Priest whom we should be glad to have among us'. Ten years later, I see no reason to change a word of that. * Bob Hale, Philosophica Mathematica *Priest has provided a very clear and honest accounting of what has been overlooked--non--existents. His book is clearly written and welcome reading. * Jim Kow, Metapsychology Online Reviews *Table of ContentsI. SEMANTICS FOR INTENTIONALITY; II. IN DEFENCE OF NON-BEING; III. IMPOSSIBLE WORLDS AND (OTHER) NON-EXISTENT OBJECTS; IV: ET CETERA

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisTruth and Paradox offers a comprehensive account of truth values and the norms governing claims about truth, based on a new approach to logic and semantics. Since the seminal work of Tarski in the mid-twentieth century, the Liar paradox and other related paradoxes have stood in the way of a precise philosophical account of truth. Tim Maudlin draws on analogies from mathematical physics to explicate the origin of classical truth-value gaps, and to provide an account of truth that avoids any hierarchy of languages or of truth predicates. He also closely investigates our reasoning about truth, including apparently unobjectionable reasoning about the paradoxical sentences. The fallacies in that reasoning are located not in any inferences concerning truth, but in the foundations of standard logic. Blocking the paradoxical arguments requires emendation of classical logic, and the requisite emendations call into question the existence of any a priori logical truths. Maudlin also includes a diTrade ReviewTim Maudlin's Truth and Paradox is a terrific book... the perspective it casts on [the] situation is completely novel ... sure to interest a wide range of philosophers, not just those with special interest in the paradoxes...lucid and lively, a pleasure to read. * Hartry Field, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research *Tim Maudlin offers a theory of truth that arises from a foundationalist picture of language. The picture is attractive, and Maudlin builds on it courageously (indeed, fearlessly) ... a though-provoking book, one that offers a novel way of conceptualizing a fixed-point theory of truth. * Anil Gupta, MIND *Table of Contents1. Two Versions of the Liar Paradox ; 2. On the Origin of Truth Values ; 3. What is Truth, and What is a Theory of Truth? ; 4. A Language That Can Express Its Own Truth Theory ; 5. The Norms of Assertion and Denial ; 6. Solving the Inferential Liar Antinomy ; 7. Reasoning about Permissible Sentences ; 8. The Permissibility Paradox ; 9. The Metaphysics of Truth ; Bibliography

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Book SynopsisFrançois Recanati argues against the traditional understanding of the semantics/pragmatics divide and puts forward a radical alternative. Through half a dozen case studies, he shows that what an utterance says cannot be neatly separated from what the speaker means. In particular, the speaker''s meaning endows words with senses that are tailored to the situation of utterance and depart from the conventional meanings carried by the words in isolation. This phenomenon of ''pragmatic modulation'' must be taken into account in theorizing about semantic content, for it interacts with the grammar-driven process of semantic composition. Because of that interaction, Recanati argues, the content of a sentence always depends upon the context in which it is used. This claim defines Contextualism, a view which has attracted considerable attention in recent years, and of which Recanati is one of the main proponents.Trade ReviewThe book is an important contribution to the debate on the relationship between semantics and pragmatics, and to discussions of particular linguistic phenomena featured in the case studies. Anyone interested in any of these issues should certainly read it. * Karen Lewis, Mind *a rich and provocative book, which is eloquently written ... There is no doubt in my mind that Truth-Conditional Pragmatics will become a standard reference for future discussions pertaining to semantics, pragmatics and the distinction between the two. * Berit Brogaard, Analysis *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. Compositionality, Flexibility, and Context-Dependence ; 2. Adjectives: A Case Study ; 3. Weather Reports ; 4. Pragmatics and Logical Form ; 5. Embedded Implicatures ; 6. Indexicality and Context-Shift ; 7. Open Quotation ; 8. Open Quotation Revisited ; References

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Book SynopsisThis book contains updated and substantially revised versions of Angelika Kratzer''s classic papers on modals and conditionals, including ''What must and can must and can mean'', ''Partition and Revision'', ''The Notional Category of Modality'', ''Conditionals'', ''An Investigation of the Lumps of Thought'', and ''Facts: Particulars or Information Units?''. The book''s contents add up to some of the most important work on modals and conditionals in particular and on the semantics-syntax interface more generally. It will be of central interest to linguists and philosophers of language of all theoretical persuasions.Trade ReviewThe book's contents add up to some of the most important work on modals and conditionals. It will be of central interest to linguists and philosophers of language of all theoretical persuasions. * MathSciNet *An indispensible resource. * François Recanati, Institut Jean Nicod *This book is a treasure of the puzzles, illustrations, and parables that have shaped the modern view of the language of modals and conditionals. It defines the standard against which all theorizing on the subject is to be measured. A classic. * Barry Schein, University of Southern California *This work collects and dramatically expands upon Angelika Kratzer's now classic papers. There is scarcely an area of philosophy that remains or will remain untouched by their influence. * Jason Stanley, Rutgers University *Table of Contents1. What Must and Can Must and Can Mean ; 2. The Notional Category of Modality ; 3. Partition and Revision: The Semantics of Counterfactuals ; 4. Conditionals ; 5. An Investigation of the Lumps of Thought ; 6. Facts: Particulars or Information Units? ; References ; Index

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Book SynopsisGardeners, poets, lovers, and philosophers are all interested in the redness of roses; but only philosophers wonder how it is that two different roses can share the same property. Are red things red because they resemble each other? Or do they resemble each other because they are red? Since the 1970s philosophers have tended to favour the latter view, and held that a satisfactory account of properties must involve the postulation of either universals or tropes. But Gonzalo Rodriguez-Pereyra revives the dormant alternative theory of resemblance nominalism, showing first that it can withstand the attacks of such eminent opponents as Goodman and Armstrong, and then that there are reasons to prefer it to its rival theories. The clarity and rigour of his arguments will challenge metaphysicians to rethink their views on properties.Trade ReviewRodriguez-Pereyra . . . develops a novel understanding of the problem of universals, offers his own conception of truthmaking and examines the relative virtues of qualitative and quantitative economy. . . . [he] deserves praise for following arguments where they lead and challenging so many of the ingrained assumptions that metaphysicians routinely bring to bear upon the discussion of resemblance nominalism. * Fraser MacBride, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *Dan Dennett's Philosophical Lexicon contains the entry: 'Exhume, v. to revive a position generally thought to be humed.' This book is the most brilliant philosophical exhumation that it has been my pleasure to encounter. This book argues that our attributions of properties and relations can be given satisfactory truthmakers using no more than resemblances holding between ordinary particulars. Many of us had assumed that this program is bankrupt, but now we must think again ... With patient and ingenious argument [Rodriguez-Pereyra] has shown that the theory has more to be said for it than ever I, and I suspect many others, had imagined. The fundamental nature of properties and relations may be the central question in metaphysics. He has made an important contribution to the topic. * D. M. Armstrong, Australasian Journal of Philosophy *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. The Problem of Universals: A Problem about Truthmakers ; 2. The Explananda of the Problems of Universals ; 3. The Many over One ; 4. Resemblance Nominalism ; 5. The Coextension Difficulty ; 6. Russell's Regress ; 7. The Resemblance Structure of Property Classes ; 8. Goodman's Difficulties ; 9. The Imperfect Community Difficulty ; 10. The Companionship Difficulty ; 11. The Mere Intersections Difficulty ; 12. The Superiority of Resemblance Nominalism ; Appendix: On Imperfect Communities and the Non-communities they Entail ; References, Index

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Book SynopsisGraham Priest presents a new, expanded edition of his highly original exploration of the nature and limits of thought. Drawing on recent developments in the field of logic, Priest shows that the description of such limits leads to contradiction, and argues that these contradictions are in fact true. Beginning with an analysis of the way in which these limits arise in pre-Kantian philosophy, Priest goes on to illustrate how the nature of these limits was theorized by Kant and Hegel. He offers new interpretations of Berkeley''s master argument for idealism and Kant on the antinomies. He explores the paradoxes of self-reference, and provides a unified account of the structure of such paradoxes. The book goes on to trace the theme of the limits of thought in modern philosophy of language, including discussions of the ideas of Wittgenstein and Derrida.The second edition includes new chapters on Heidegger and Nagarjuna, as well as reflections on reactions to the first edition. This clear, prTrade ReviewReview from previous edition This book is a splendid tour de force, one which should be read by every philosopher... * Alan Weir, Philosophical Quarterly *clever, resourceful, undogmatic, unpretentious, often sensible and usually clear over a wide range of issues * Timothy Williamson, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science *highly entertaining and provocative... an engaging and instructive tour through some of the most perplexing features of our own conceptual finitude... * A. W. Moore, Times Literary Supplement *Graham Priest combines a deep philosophical appreciation of fundamental logical issues with a marvelously informed reading of both the history of philosophy and contemporary texts. His work is ambitious and insightful... The book is an ambitious attempt to do important philosophical work across major borders - borders of the formal and philosophical, the historical and the contemporary, the Analytical and the Continental traditions. In [this] regard it is a resounding success. * Patrick Grim, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research *Table of Contents1. THE LIMITS OF EXPRESSION ; 5. NOUMENA AND THE CATEGORIES ; 8. ABSOLUTE INFINITY ; 12. THE UNITY OF THOUGHT ; 15. HEIDEGGER AND THE GRAMMAR OF BEING

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Book SynopsisDiscusses topics such as: freedom to act; weakness of the will; the logical form of talk about actions, intentions, and causality; the logic of practical reasoning; Hume's theory of the indirect passions; and the nature and limits of decision theory. This book argues for an ontology which includes events along with persons and other objects.Trade ReviewReview from other book by this author `...these intriguing views are ingeniously argued and fruitfully provocative.' Philosophy.Review from previous edition 'it must be said that this is one of the most impressive works of analytical philosophy to appear for a good many years.' * Peter Strawson, Times Literary Supplement *Review from previous edition 'it must be said that this is one of the most impressive works of analytical philosophy to appear for a good many years... The positions adopted are argued for with an extraordinarily sustained seriousness and determination... the work will become, and deserves to become, a classic in its field.' * Peter Strawson, Times Literary Supplement *Table of Contents1. ACTIONS, REASONS, AND CAUSES (1963) ; 6. THE LOGICAL FORM OF ACTION SENTENCES (1967) ; 11. MENTAL EVENTS (1970)

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Book SynopsisDonald Davidson presents a new edition of the 1984 volume which set out his enormously influential philosophy of language. Inquiries into Truth and Interpretation has been a central point of reference and a focus of controversy in the subject ever since, and its influence has extended into linguistic theory, philosophy of mind, and epistemology. This new edition features an additional essay, previously uncollected.The central question which these essays address is what it is for words to mean what they do. Davidson argues that a philosophically instructive theory of meaning should acknowledge the holistic nature of linguistic understanding, in that it should provide an interpretation of all utterances, actual and potential, of a speaker or group of speakers; and that it should not rely upon the concepts it attempts to explain, in that it should be verifiable independently of knowledge of the detailed propositional attitudes of the speaker. Among the topics covered in the essays are theTrade ReviewDavidson, aside from being one of the most influential philosophers of the last century, shares with many of his generation a capacity to write intelligibly. * The Philosophers' Magazine *Table of Contents1. THEORIES OF MEANING AND LEARNABLE LANGUAGES (1965); 6. QUOTATION (1979); 9. RADICAL INTERPRETATION (1973); 13. ON THE VERY IDEA OF A CONCEPTUAL SCHEME (1974); 17. WHAT METAPHORS MEAN (1978)

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Book SynopsisGraham Priest presents an expanded edition of his exploration of the nature and limits of thought. Embracing contradiction and challenging traditional logic, he engages with issues across philosophical borders, from the historical to the modern, Eastern to Western, continental to analytic.Trade Review...a welcome new edition... * Carlo Penco, Epistemologia *Table of Contents1. THE LIMITS OF EXPRESSION ; 5. NOUMENA AND THE CATEGORIES ; 8. ABSOLUTE INFINITY ; 12. THE UNITY OF THOUGHT ; 15. HEIDEGGER AND THE GRAMMAR OF BEING

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Book SynopsisThis is a new edition, revised and expanded, of a seminal work in the logic and philosophy of time, originally published in 1968. Arthur N. Prior (1914-1969) was the founding father of temporal logic. His work has attracted increased attention in the decades since his death: its influence stretches beyond philosophy and logic to computer science and formal linguistics. Prior''s fundamental ideas about the logic of time are presented here along with his investigations into the formal properties of time and tense. Already in 1969 Prior had been planning a new edition of Papers on Time and Tense, to incorporate his more recent work. Because of his untimely death this plan was never followed through--till now. Seven important papers have been added to the original selection, as well as a comprehensive bibliography of his work and an illuminating interview with his widow, Mary Prior, about his life and work. In addition, the Polish logic which made the original book difficult for many readeTrade Review[An] excellent collection. Every paper is densely argued and challenging * Philosophy Journal, Vol. 82 *Table of Contents1. LIFE AND WORK OF ARTHUR N. PRIOR: 'AN INTERVIEW WITH MARY PRIOR'

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Book SynopsisIn Contradiction advocates and defends the view that there are true contradictions (dialetheism), a view that flies in the face of orthodoxy in Western philosophy since Aristotle. The book has been at the centre of the controversies surrounding dialetheism ever since its first publication in 1987. This second edition of the book substantially expands upon the original in various ways, and also contains the author''s reflections on developments over the last two decades. Further aspects of dialetheism are discussed in the companion volume, Doubt Truth to be a Liar, also published by Oxford University Press.Trade Reviewafter reading the careful arguments that Priest builds to defend dialetheism, and the passionate attack he launches on classical logic and consistent views of the world, one realizes that dialetheism is a major logical theory, deserving a detailed examination. . . . I strongly recommend its reading to anyone interested in logic and language * José Martínez Fernández, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *Table of ContentsFull contents to follow

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Book SynopsisThis book revives the study of conventional implicatures in natural language semantics. H. Paul Grice first defined the concept. Since then his definition has seen much use and many redefinitions, but it has never enjoyed a stable place in linguistic theory. Christopher Potts returns to the original and uses it as a key into two presently under-studied areas of natural language: supplements (appositives, parentheticals) and expressives (e.g., honorifics, epithets). The account of both depends on a theory in which sentence meanings can be multidimensional. The theory is logically and intuitively compositional, and it minimally extends a familiar kind of intensional logic, thereby providing an adaptable, highly useful tool for semantic analysis. The result is a linguistic theory that is accessible not only to linguists of all stripes, but also philosophers of language, logicians, and computer scientists who have linguistic applications in mind.Trade Reviewa virtuosic blend of astute descriptive observations and technically sophisticated formulations, * Kent Bach, Journal of Linguistics *The Logic of Conventional Implicatures, by Christopher Potts, which I consider one of the highlights of 2005, presents an ingenious new theory for describing the semantic interpretation of sentences that are said to contain 'conventional implicatures' (CIs). * The Year's Work in English Studies *Table of Contents1. Introduction ; 2. A Preliminary Case for Conventional Implicatures ; 3. A Logic for Conventional Implicatures ; 4. Supplements ; 5. Expressive Content ; 6. The Supplement Relation: A Syntactic Analysis ; 7. A Look Outside Grice's Definition ; Appendix ; Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThis book introduces generative grammar as an area of study and asks what it tells us about the human mind. Wolfram Hinzen lays the foundation for the unification of modern generative linguistics with the philosophies of mind and language. He introduces Chomsky''s program of a ''minimalist'' syntax as a novel explanatory vision of the human mind. He explains how the Minimalist Program originated in work in cognitive science, biology, linguistics, and philosophy, and examines its implications for work in these fields. He considers the way the human mind is designed when seen as an arrangement of structural patterns in nature, and argues that its design is the product not so much of adaptive evolutionary history as of principles and processes that are ahistorical and internalist in character. Linguistic meaning, he suggests, arises in the mind as a consequence of structures emerging on formal rather than functional grounds. From this he substantiates an unexpected and deeply unfashionablTable of ContentsPREFACE; ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS; PART I: NATURALLY HUMAN; PART II: DEDUCING VARIATION; PART III: RATIONAL MIND; CONCLUSIONS; REFERENCES

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Book SynopsisKit Fine has since the 1970s been one of the leading contributors to work at the intersection of logic and metaphysics. This is his eagerly-awaited first book in the area. It draws together a series of essays, three of them previously unpublished, on possibility, necessity, and tense. These puzzling aspects of the way the world is have been the focus of considerable philosophical attention in recent decades.Fine gives here the definitive exposition and defence of certain positions for which he is well known: the intelligibility of modality de re; the primitiveness of the modal; and the primacy of the actual over the possible. But the book also argues for several positions that are not so familiar: the existence of distinctive forms of natural and normative necessity, not reducible to any form of metaphysical necessity; the need to make a distinction between the worldly and the unworldly, analogous to the distinction between the tensed and the tenseless; and the viability of a non-standTable of ContentsI. ISSUES IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE ; II. ISSUES IN ONTOLOGY ; III. ISSUES IN METAPHYSICS ; IV. REVIEWS

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Book SynopsisGuiding the work of most linguists and philosophers of language today is the assumption that language is governed by prescriptive normative rules. Many believe that it is of the essence of thought itself to follow rules, rules of inference determining the intentional contents of our concepts, and that these rules originate as internalized rules of language. However, exactly what it is for there to be such things as normative rules of language remains distressingly unclear. From what source do these norms flow? What sanctions enforce them? What happens, exactly, if you don''t follow the rules? How do children learn the rules?Ruth Millikan presents a radicallly different way of viewing the partial regularities that language displays, the norms and conventions of language. The central norms applying to language, like those norms of function and behavior that account for the survival and proliferation of biological traits, are non-evaluative norms. Specific linguistic forms survive and areTrade ReviewThe essays are carefully organized to present Millikan's account of language in a novel, systemic manner...it's unapologetically ambitious, uncommonly though-provoking, and is full of insights, in every chapter. Moreover, she does often succeed at making her ideas more accessible than in other of her works...this new collection is often fascinating and consistently thought-provoking, and many of her claims that seem on first look to be obviously wrong become, over time, utterly compelling. The book is a challenge, but it's worth it. * Brian Epstein, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *the individual essays of Language serve to confirm Millikan's status as one of the most innovative and compelling thinkers of our time. * Emma Borg, Times Literary Supplement *Ruth Garrett Millikan is one of the most important thinkers in philosophy of mind and language of the current generation. * Emma Borg, Times Literary Supplement *Table of Contents1. Language Conventions Made Simple ; 2. In Defense of Public Language ; 3. Meaning, Meaning, and Meaning ; 4. The Son and the Daughter: On Sellars, Brandom, and Millikan ; 5. The Language-Thought Partnership ; 6. Why (most) Kinds are not Classes ; 7. Cutting Philosophy of Language Down to Size ; 8. Proper Function and Convention in Speech Acts ; 9. Pushmi-pullyu Representations ; 10. Semantics/Pragmatics (Purposes and Cross-Purposes)

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Book SynopsisThe Essential Davidson compiles the most celebrated papers of one of the twentieth century''s greatest philosophers. It distils Donald Davidson''s seminal contributions to our understanding of ourselves, from three decades of essays, into one thematically organized collection. A new, specially written introduction by Ernie Lepore and Kirk Ludwig, two of the world''s leading authorities on his work, offers a guide through the ideas and arguments, shows how they interconnect, and reveals the systematic coherence of Davidson''s worldview.Davidson''s philosophical program is organized around two connected projects. The first is that of understanding the nature of human agency. The second is that of understanding the nature and function of language, and its relation to the world. Accordingly, the first part of the book presents Davidson''s investigation of reasons, causes, and intentions, which revolutionized the philosophy of action. This leads to his notable doctrine of anomalous monism, Table of ContentsIntroduction ; PHILOSOPHY OF ACTION AND PSYCHOLOGY ; 1. Action, Reasons, and Causes (1963) ; 2. The Logical Form of Action Sentences (with Comments, Criticism, and Defense) (1967) ; 3. How is Weakness of the Will Possible? (1969) ; 4. Individuation of Events (1969) ; 5. Mental Events (1970) (with Emeroses by Other Names (1966)) ; 6. Intending (1978) ; 7. Paradoxes of Irrationality (1982) ; TRUTH, MEANING, AND INTERPRETATION ; 8. Truth and Meaning (1967) ; 9. On Saying That (1968) ; 10. Radical Interpretation (1973) ; 11. On the Very Idea of a Conceptual Scheme (1974) ; 12. What Metaphors Mean (1978) ; 13. A Coherence Theory of Truth and Knowledge (1983); Afterthoughts (1987) ; 14. First Person Authority (1984) ; 15. A Nice Derangement of Epitaphs (1986)

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Book SynopsisThis is a book about semantic theories of modality. Its main goal is to explain and evaluate important contemporary theories within linguistics and to discuss a wide range of linguistic phenomena from the perspective of these theories. The introduction describes the variety of grammatical phenomena associated with modality, explaining why modal verbs, adjectives, and adverbs represent the core phenomena. Chapters are then devoted to the possible worlds semantics for modality developed in modal logic; current theories of modal semantics within linguistics; and the most important empirical areas of research. The author concludes by discussing the relation between modality and other topics, especially tense, aspect, mood, and discourse meaning.Paul Portner''s accessible guide to this key area of current research will be welcomed by students of linguistics at graduate level and above, as well as by researchers in philosophy, computational science, and related fields.Trade ReviewThis is a most welcome, challenging and insightful book...an invaluable source of information for both students and senior researchers in linguistic semantics. * Ferenc Keifer, The Journal of Linguistics *This book is sure to be recognized as the most thorough systematic survey of the semantics of modality yet undertaken...written with admirable care * Frank Veltman, Professor of Logic and Cognitive Science, University of Amsterdam *...constitutes an ideal introduction for the beginner; but also the expert will learn from it... An extremely valuable, up to date, inspiring resource. * Gennaro Chierchia, Haas Foundations Professor of Linguistics, Harvard University *A self-contained monograph, it does not assume much familiarity on the reader's part with modal logic or any major theory of linguistic modality, so that those who have just started exploring modality will find the book very accessible and helpful. On the other hand, experts will find the book an excellent resource to turn to when they want to have a quick brush-up on one theory of modality or another. An authoritative figure on linguistic modality, Portner takes an unimposing position when presenting his own ideas (where applicable). Overall the book is a great pleasure to read. * Zhiguo Xie, Department of Linguistics, Cornell University *Table of Contents1. Introduction ; 2. Modal Logic ; 3. Major Linguistic Theories of Modality ; 4. Sentential Modality ; 5. Modality and Other Intensional Categories ; Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisMark Wilson investigates the way we get to grips with the world conceptually, and the way that philosophical problems commonly arise from this. He combines traditional philosophical concerns about human conceptual thinking with illuminating data derived from physics and applied mathematics, cognitive psychology, and linguistics.Trade ReviewLate Twentieth Century philosophical theories of concepts confine their movements within a surprisingly constrained Carnapian compass...But there is something wholly new under the sun. Mark Wilson's Wandering Significance represents the intrusion into this tired tradition of a theoretical approach that is both strikingly original and genuinely deep. The evidence, considerations, and ideas he brings into play do not stem from any recognizable prior philosophical school, constellation, or tradition. What he offers is new conceptual framework that is motivated and supported by concrete, detailed investigations of actual concepts "under a microscope" and "pushed to the limit". * Robert Brandom, Philosophical and Phenomenological Research *This monumental volume aims to redirect philosophical work on concepts towards explaining how we can successfully navigate the daunting complexity of the natural world. * Christopher Pincock, Philosophia Mathematica *Table of Contents1. Wide Screen ; 2. Lost Chords ; 3. Classical Glue ; 4. Theory Facades ; 5. The Practical Go of It ; 6. The Virtues of Cracked Reasoning ; 7. Linguistic Wayfaring ; 8. Song of the Master Idea ; 9. Semantic Mimicry ; 10. The Critic of Nature and Genius

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Book SynopsisBetween Saying and Doing aims to reconcile pragmatism (in both its classical American and its Wittgensteinian forms) with analytic philosophy. It investigates the relations between the meaning of linguistic expressions and their use. Giving due weight both to what one has to do in order to count as saying various things and to what one needs to say in order to specify those doings, makes it possible to shed new light on the relations between semantics (the theory of the meanings of utterances and the contents of thoughts) and pragmatics (the theory of the functional relations among meaningful or contentful items). Among the vocabularies whose interrelated use and meaning are considered are: logical, indexical, modal, normative, and intentional vocabulary. As the argument proceeds, new ways of thinking about the classic analytic core programs of empiricism, naturalism, and functionalism are offered, as well as novel insights about the ideas of artificial intelligence, the nature of logiTrade ReviewBetween Saying and Doing is an enriching, enlivening book. This is the work of a generous philosopher at the height of his powers stretching readers to the height of theirs. * Maximilian de Gaynesford, Times Literary Supplement *Table of ContentsLecture One: Extending the Project of Analysis ; Lecture Two: Elaborating Abilities: The Expressive Role of Logic ; Appendix to Lecture Two ; Lecture Three: Artificial Intelligence and Analytic Pragmatism ; Lecture Four: Modality and Normativity: From Hume and Quine to Kant and Sellars ; Lecture Five: Incompatibility, Modal Semantics, and Intrinsic Logic ; Appendix to Lecture Five ; Lecture Six: Intentionality as a Pragmatically Mediated Semantic Relation ; Afterword

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Book SynopsisThis book presents a state-of-the-art account of what we know and would like to know about language, mind, and brain. Chapters by leading researchers in linguistics, psycholinguistics, language acquisition, cognitive neuroscience, comparative cognitive psychology, and evolutionary biology are framed by an introduction and conclusion by Noam Chomsky, who places the biolinguistic enterprise in an historical context and helps define its agenda for the future.The questions explored include: What is our tacit knowledge of language?What is the faculty of language?How does it develop in the individual?How is that knowledge put to use?How is it implemented in the brain?How did that knowledge emerge in the species?The book includes the contributor''s key discussions, which dramatically bring to life their enthusiasm for the enterprise and skill in communicating across disciplines. Everyone seriously interested in how language works and why it works the way it does are certain to find, if not alTrade ReviewThe sheer empirical reach of the book makes it essential reading... David Kirkby, University of DurhamTable of ContentsPART 1: OVERTURES; PART 2: ON LANGUAGE; PART 3: ON ACQUISITION; PART 4: OPEN TALKS ON OPEN INQUIRIES

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Book SynopsisIn this short, lucid, rich book Michael Dummett sets out his views about some of the deepest questions in philosophy. The fundamental question of metaphysics is: what does reality consist of? To answer this, Dummett holds, it is necessary to say what kinds of fact obtain, and what constitutes their holding good. Facts correspond with true propositions, or true thoughts: when we know which propositions, or thoughts, in general, are true, we shall know what facts there are in general. Dummett considers the relation between metaphysics, our conception of the constitution of reality, and semantics, the theory that explains how statements are determined as true or as false in terms of their composition out of their constituent expressions. He investigates the two concepts on which the bridge that connects semantics to metaphysics rests, meaning and truth, and the role of justification in a theory of meaning. He then examines the special semantic and metaphysical issues that arise with relatTrade ReviewDummett's Thought and Reality... is characteristically brilliant. * John Perry, Mind *Table of ContentsPreface ; 1. Facts and Propositions ; 2. Semantics and Metaphysics ; 3. Truth and Meaning ; 4. Truth-Conditional Semantics ; 5. Justificationist Theories of Meaning ; 6. Tense and Time ; 7. Reality As It Is In Itself ; 8. God and the World

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Book SynopsisNew Essays on Singular Thought presents ten new, specially written essays on an issue central to philosophy of mind, language, and perception: the nature of our thought about the external world. Is our thought about objects in the world always descriptive, mediated by our conceptions of those objects? Or is some of our thought somehow more direct, singular, associated more intimately with our perceptual, linguistic, and socially mediated relations to them? Leading experts in the field contributing to this volume make the case for the singularity of thought and debate a broad spectrum of issues it raises, including the structure of singular thought, the role of acquaintance in perception- and communication-based reference, the semantics of fictional and mythical terms, and the merits of epistemic, cognitive, and linguistic conditions on singular thought. Their essays explore new directions for future research and will be an important resource for anyone working at the interface of semanTrade Reviewthe editor deserves thanks for drawing together these thought-provoking papers and making it easier to see some of the profitable areas for future work on singular thought. * Jose Luis Bermudez, The Philosophical Quarterly *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; I THE STRUCTURE OF SINGULAR THOUGHT ; 1. Getting a Thing Into a Thought ; 2. Three Perspectives on Quantifying In ; 3. On Singularity ; II CONDITIONS ON SINGULAR THOUGHT ; 4. Singular Thought: Acquaintance, Semantic Instrumentalism, and Cognitivism ; 5. Singular Thought: In Defense of Acquaintance ; DEMONSTRATIVE AND COMMUNICATION-BASED REFERENCE AND THOUGHT ; 6. Demonstrative Reference, the Relational View of Experience, and the Proximality Principle ; 7. We Are Acquainted With Ordinary Things ; 8. Millian Externalism ; IV THINKING OF NOTHING ; 9. Fictional Singular Imaginings ; 10. Intentionality Without Exotica ; Index

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Book SynopsisThis volume presents twenty-two uncollected philosophical essays by Sir Peter Strawson, one of the leading philosophers of the second half of the twentieth century. The essays (two of them previously unpublished) are drawn from seven decades of work, from 1949 to 2003. They span the broad range of Strawson''s work: metaphysics, epistemology, philosophical logic, philosophy of language, ethical theory, and history of philosophy, along with metaphilosophical reflections and intellectual autobiography.Table of ContentsPreface ; 1. Ethical Intuitionism ; 2. In Defence of a Dogma ; 3. Construction and Analysis ; 4. Proper Names ; 5. The Post-Linguistic Thaw ; 6. Analysis, Science, and Metaphysics ; 7. Bennett on Kant's Analytic ; 8. Does Knowledge have Foundations? ; 9. Knowledge and Truth ; 10. Scruton and Wright on Anti-Realism ; 11. Perception and its Objects ; 12. Liberty and Necessity ; 13. Sensibility, Understanding, and the Doctrine of Synthesis ; 14. Two Conceptions of Philosophy ; 15. Review of Paul Grice, Studies in the Way of Words ; 16. Knowing from Words ; 17. What have we learned from Philosophy in the Twentieth Century? ; 18. A Category of Particulars ; 19. Paul Grice ; 20. Why Philosophy? ; 21. Intellectual Autobiography ; 22. A Bit of Intellectual Autobiography ; Index

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Book SynopsisA team of leading philosophers presents original work on theories of parthood and of location. Topics covered include how we ought to axiomatise our mereology, whether we can reduce mereological relations to identity or to locative relations, whether Mereological Essentialism is true, different ways in which entities persist through space, time, spacetime, and even hypertime, conflicting intuitions we have about space, and what mereology and propositions can tell us about one another. The breadth and accessibility of the papers make this volume an excellent introduction for those not yet working on these topics. Further, the papers contain important contributions to these central areas of metaphysics, and thus are essential reading for anyone working in the field.Trade ReviewUltimately, Mereology & Location offers detailed discussions of a wide range of topics which have been approached with an eye on connections to locative or mereological concerns. The bibliography at the end provides a good guide to the literature for further study across the topics covered. One underlying theme which arises in many of the contributions is persistence ... As such, those engaged in the debate over persistence may be especially likely to find many of the discussions in this volume valuable. The book is well edited and without exception the articles are clear, lively, and elegantly written--these features make the book all the more engaging. * Paul R. Daniels, The Philosophical Quarterly *This book is awesome in the same way that a new compendium to the Star Wars expanded universe would be to a super-fan: it feels like Christmas in hardback This volume is loaded with interesting papers of the highest quality. Virtually all of them directly engage with the question of the interaction between mereology and the spatial, temporal, and modal dimensionsThe number of original approaches, each worked out with careful (sometimes technical) precision, is striking. Formally inclined metaphysicians will love the book -- a "can't miss" for specialists. Even non-specialists will find something to like -- you'll just have to locate the right part * A. J. Cotnoir, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews Online *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION ; MEREOLOGY ; 1. THE MANY PRIMITIVES OF MEREOLOGY ; 2. PARTHOOD IS IDENTITY ; 3. MEREOLOGY AND MODALITY ; MEREOLOGY AND LOCATION ; 4. WHERE IT'S AT: MODES OF OCCUPATION AND KINDS OF OCCUPANT ; 5. A SPATIAL APPROACH TO MEREOLOGY ; 6. BALLS AND ALL ; 7. CONFLICTING INTUITIONS ABOUT SPACE ; INTERACTION WITH OTHER TOPICS ; 8. TRANSHYPERTIME IDENTITY ; 9. PARTS OF PROPOSITIONS ; 10. MEREOLOGICAL SUMS AND SINGULAR TERMS ; Notes on the Contributors ; Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisWhat is truth? Michael Lynch defends a bold new answer to this question. Traditional theories hold that all truths are true in the same way. More recent theories claim that the concept of truth is of no real importance. Lynch argues against both these extremes: truth is a functional property whose function can be performed in more than one way.Trade Reviewthis is truly a thought-provoking and admirable book. * Christine Tappolet, Mind *Table of ContentsPreface ; 1. Truisms ; 2. Truth as One ; 3. Truth as Many ; 4. Truth as One and Many ; 5. Deflationism and Explanation ; 6. Expanding the view: Semantic Functionalism ; 7. Truth and the Moral Fabric

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Book SynopsisOne of the most important philosophers of recent times, Elizabeth Anscombe wrote books and articles on a wide range of topics, including the ground-breaking monograph Intention. Her work is original, challenging, often difficult, always insightful; but it has frequently been misunderstood, and its overall significance is still not fully appreciated. This book is the first major study of Anscombe''s philosophical oeuvre. In it, Roger Teichmann presents Anscombe''s main ideas, bringing out their interconnections, elaborating and discussing their implications, pointing out objections and difficulties, and aiming to give a unified overview of her philosophy. Many of Anscombe''s arguments are relevant to contemporary debates, as Teichmann shows, and on a number of topics what Anscombe has to say constitutes a powerful alternative to dominant or popular views. Among the writings discussed are Intention, ''Practical Inference'', ''Modern Moral Philosophy'', ''Rules, Rights and Promises'', ''OTrade Reviewlucid, insightful, and thoroughly well informed by a familiarity with Anscombe's daunting range of philosophical writings ... a worthy tribute to Anscombe's legacy. * Duncan Richter, International Journal of Philosophical Studies *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION

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Book SynopsisMichael Forster here presents a ground-breaking study of German philosophy of language in the nineteenth century (and beyond). His previous book, After Herder, showed that the eighteenth-century philosopher J.G. Herder played the fundamental role in founding modern philosophy of language, including new theories of interpretation (''hermeneutics'') and translation, as well as in establishing such whole new disciplines concerned with language as anthropology and linguistics. This new volume reveals that Herder''s ideas continued to have a profound impact on such important nineteenth-century thinkers as Friedrich Schlegel (the leading German Romantic), Wilhelm von Humboldt (a founder of linguistics), and G.W.F. Hegel (the leading German Idealist). Forster shows that the most valuable ideas about language in this tradition were continuous with Herder''s, whereas deviations from the latter that occurred tended to be inferior. This book not only sets the historical record straight but also cTrade ReviewMichael Forster's two interconnected books... are vigorous and innovative invitations to look at matters quite differently... the two books offer the most philosophically sustained, searching, and convincing account of Herder's philosophical achievement to date... After Herder and German Philosophy of Language are books to be reckoned with and will amply repay the most serious attention from historians of philosophy, philosophers of language, and social theorists. * Fred Rush, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *[Forster] explores a rich and interesting vein in the history of philosophy. Equipped with massive erudition and a sharp eye for logical distinctions, he presents its achievements in a detailed, but systematic and digestible, form. * Michael Inwood, Mind *Table of ContentsPART I: SCHLEGEL; PART II: HUMBOLDT; PART III: HEGEL; PART IV: AND BEYOND

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Book SynopsisThis volume presents a series of essays published by Charles Kahn over a period of forty years, in which he seeks to explicate the ancient Greek concept of Being. He addresses two distinct but intimately related problems, one linguistic and one historical and philosophical. The linguistic problem concerns the theory of the Greek verb einai, ''to be'': how to replace the conventional but misleading distinction between copula and existential verb with a more adequate theoretical account. The philosophical problem is in principle quite distinct: to understand how the concept of Being became the central topic in Greek philosophy from Parmenides to Aristotle. But these two problems converge on what Kahn calls the veridical use of einai. In the earlier papers he takes that connection between the verb and the concept of truth to be the key to the central role of Being in Greek philosophy. In the later papers he interprets the veridical in terms of a more general semantic function of the verb,Trade ReviewReview from previous edition always engaging and often provocative * Jonathan Barnes, Mind *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. The Greek verb 'to be' and the concept of Being ; 2. The terminology for copula and existence ; 3. Why existence does not emerge as a distinct concept in Greek philosophy ; 4. Some philosophical uses of 'to be' in Plato ; 5. A return to the verb 'to be' and the concept of Being ; 6. The thesis of Parmenides ; 7. Being in Parmenides and Plato ; 8. Parmenides and Plato once more ; Postscript on Parmenides: Parmenides and physics. The direction of the chariot ride in the proem. The epistemic preference for Fire.

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Book SynopsisClaiming to know is more than making a report about one''s epistemic position: one also offers one''s assurance to others. What is an assurance? In this book, Krista Lawlor unites J. L. Austin''s insights about the pragmatics of assurance-giving and the semantics of knowledge claims into a systematic whole. The central theme in the Austinian view is that of reasonableness: appeal to a ''reasonable person'' standard makes the practice of assurance-giving possible, and lets our knowledge claims be true despite differences in practical interests and disagreement among speakers and hearers. Lawlor provides an original account of how the Austinian view addresses a number of difficulties for contextualist semantic theories, resolves closure-based skeptical paradoxes, and helps us to tread the line between acknowledging our fallibility and skepticism.Trade ReviewThere is much to admire in Lawlor's book, and it will surely be an influential addition to the burgeoning field of Austin studies, not to mention the contemporary debates in epistemology and philosophy of language to which her Austinian proposal is directed. * Duncan Pritchard, The Times Literary Supplement *a detailed, expert Austinian account of assurance and knowledge claims . . . Recommended. * Choice *One of the big achievements of Lawlor's book is to mine Austin's works, bringing these various elements together and presenting them in a systematic manner. The other is to display the distinctiveness and power of the resulting view, applying it to perennial epistemological problems (most notably, skepticism) and relating it to currently much-discussed debates (centrally, about the semantics of knowledge attributions) and puzzles (disagreement, the lottery, and others). The result is a welcome contribution to contemporary epistemology, especially given the importance that linguistic considerations have recently assumed in the latter. Throughout, the discussion is clear and insightful and full of fresh thinking about familiar and important issues. I learned from it; other epistemologists will too. * Patrick Rysiew, International Journal for the Study of Skepticism *Lawlor's book is an ambitious and enjoyable read. Her emphasis on the act of assuring gives a fresh and helpful lens through which to view a series of familiar epistemological problems. The book is an important contribution to the growing body of literature at the interface of pragmatics, social epistemology, and traditional epistemology. . . . a distinctive and exciting contribution to epistemology. * Rebecca Kukla, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *recommend this book to both experts and those who are just intrigued to see what an Austinian view of knowledge and knowledge claims might look like * Robin Mckenna, Philosophical Quarterly *Table of ContentsPreface ; 1. The speech act of assurance ; 2. Austinian semantics ; 3. Austinian semantics and linguistic data ; 4. Paradox, Probability, and Inductive Knowledge ; 5. Idiosyncrasy, disagreement and the reasonable person standard ; 6. Assurance and radical skepticism ; Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisPhilosophy of language has for some time now been the very core of the discipline of philosophy. But where did it begin? Frege has sometimes been identified as its father, but in fact its origins lie much further back, in a tradition that arose in eighteenth-century Germany. Michael Forster explores that tradition. He also makes a case that the most important thinker within that tradition was J. G. Herder. It was Herder who established such fundamental principles in the philosophy of language as that thought essentially depends on language and that meaning consists in the usage of words. It was he who on that basis revolutionized the theory of interpretation (hermeneutics) and the theory of translation. And it was he who played the pivotal role in founding such whole new disciplines concerned with language as anthropology and linguistics. In the course of developing these historical points, this book also shows that Herder and his tradition are in many ways superior to dominant trends Trade ReviewThis is a hugely important book. First, it shows that Herder was not only the inventor of modern social anthropology but also of modern hermeneutics, philosophy of language and translation theory; second, it shows that Herder is superior to more recent philosophy of language. * Michael Mack, Times Higher Education *Michael Forster's two interconnected books... are vigorous and innovative invitations to look at matters quite differently... the two books offer the most philosophically sustained, searching, and convincing account of Herder's philosophical achievement to date... After Herder and German Philosophy of Language are books to be reckoned with and will amply repay the most serious attention from historians of philosophy, philosophers of language, and social theorists. * Fred Rush, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *Table of ContentsPART I: HERDER; PART II: HAMANN; PART III: SCHLEIERMACHER

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Book SynopsisFrançois Recanati presents his theory of mental files, a new way of understanding reference in language and thought. He aims to recast the ''nondescriptivist'' approach to reference that has dominated the philosophy of language and mind in the late twentieth century. According to Recanati, we refer through mental files, which play the role of so-called ''modes of presentation''. The reference of linguistic expressions is inherited from that of the files we associate with them. The reference of a file is determined relationally, not satisfactionally: so a file is not to be equated to the body of (mis)information it contains. Files are like singular terms in the language of thought, with a nondescriptivist semantics.In contrast to other philosophers, Recanati offers an indexical model according to which files are typed by their function, which is to store information derived through certain types of relation to objects in the environment. The type of the file corresponds to the type of cTrade ReviewMental Files raises some great issues and investigates some major problems with lucid and rich arguments. Hence, the book is more than worth reading, and its lucidity both induces agreement and helps at clarifying one's dissent. * Paolo Leonardi, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *Table of ContentsPART I. SINGULAR THOUGHT AND ACQUAINTANCE : REJECTING DESCRIPTIVISM; PART II. INTRODUCING FILES; PART III. THE INDEXICAL MODEL; PART IV. MENTAL FILES AND COREFERENCE; PART V. EPISTEMIC TRANSPARENCY; PART VI. BEYOND ACQUAINTANCE; PART VII : VICARIOUS FILES; PART VIII. THE COMMUNICATION OF SINGULAR THOUGHTS; PART IX. CONCLUSION

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