Discourse contextualism : a framework for contextualist semantics and pragmatics / Alex Silk.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Silk, Alex, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Discourse analysis.

Semantics.

Physical Description:

vii, 255 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2016.

Summary:

Discourse Contextualism investigates context-sensitivity in natural language by examining the meaning and use of a target class of theoretically recalcitrant expressions. These expressions-including epistemic vocabulary, normative and evaluative vocabulary, and vague language ('CR-expressions')-exhibit systematic differences from paradigm context-sensitive expressions in their discourse dynamics and embedding properties. Many researchers have responded by rethinking the nature of linguistic meaning and communication. Drawing on general insights about the role of context in interpretation and collaborative action. Alex Silk develops an improved contextualist theory of CR-expressions within classical truth-conditional paradigm: Discourse Contextualism. The aim of Discourse Contextualism is to derive the distinctive linguistic behavior of a CR-expression from a particular contextualist interpretation of an independently motivated formal semantics, along with general principles of interpretation and conversation. It is shown how in using CR-expressions, speakers can exploit their mutual grammatical and world knowledge, and general pragmatic reasoning skills, to coordinate their attitudes and negotiate about how the context should evolve. The book focuses primarily on developing a Discourse Contextualist semantics and pragmatics for epistemic modals. The Discourse Contextualist framework is also applied to other categories of epistemic vocabulary, normative and evaluative vocabulary, and vague adjectives. The similarities/differences among these expressions, and among context-sensitive expressions more generally, have been underexplored. The development of Discourse Contextualism in this book sheds light on general features of meaning and communication, and the variety of ways in which context affects and is affected by uses of language. Discourse Contextualism provides a fruitful framework for theorizing about various broader issues in philosophy, linguistics, and cognitive science. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Introduction: CR-Expressions and Discourse Contextualism 1

Part I Discourse Contextualism: An Application to Epistemic Modals

2 Accommodation and Negotiation with Context-Sensitive Expressions 9

2.1 Epistemic Modals and Discourse Disagreement 9

2.2 Insufficient Replies 13

2.2.1 The Varieties of Linguistic Denial. Metacontextual Negotiation 13

2.2.2 Epistemic Modals in a Language Game 16

2.2.3 Recap 17

2.3 Accommodation and Negotiation with Paradigm Context-Sensitive Expressions 18

2.4 A Way Forward 22

2.5 Managing the Context: Toward Discourse Contextualism 24

3 Discourse Contextualism I: Epistemic Modals in Discourse 29

3.1 Components 1 and 2: From Formal Semantics to Interpretive Constraints 30

3.2 Component 3: Using Epistemic Modals. The Basic Account 33

3.3 Features 36

3.3.1 Justified Use 36

3.3.2 Locus of Disagreement 36

3.3.3 Discourse-Oriented Effects 38

3.3.4 Expressing States of Mind 39

3.3.5 Expressive vs. Intuitively Contextualist Uses 40

3.3.6 Anaphoric Properties. Contextual Underspecification 43

3.3.7 Recap 46

3.4 More Data: Retraction and Eavesdroppers 46

3.4.1 Retraction 46

3.4.2 Eavesdroppers and Inter-Conversational Disagreement 51

3.5 Aside: Presupposition and Epistemic Modals 56

3.5.1 "Assuming" Values for Variables? 56

3.5.2 Presupposition and Non-Monotonic Updates 62

3.5.3 A Presupposition of Commonality? 64

3.6 Truth 66

3.7 Recap 70

4 Discourse Contextualism II: How to Embed an Epistemic Modal 72

4.1 Embedding Problems 73

4.1.1 First-Order States of Mind 73

4.1.2 Obligatory Shifting 74

4.1.3 Epistemic Contradictions 76

4.1.4 Inferences 78

4.1.5 Factive Attitudes 80

4.2 Embedding Solutions 81

4.2.1 First-Order States of Mind 82

4.2.2 Obligatory Shifting 85

4.2.3 Epistemic Contradictions 89

4.2.4 Inferences 97

4.2.5 Factive Attitudes 101

4.2.6 Recap 104

4.3 Aside: Contextualism and Relativist Content 105

4.4 A Challenge Revisited: Epistemic Modals and Paradigm Context-Sensitive Expressions 108

4.5 Recap 117

Part II Discourse Contextualism: Extensions

5 Extension I: Deontic Modals 121

5.1 Introduction 121

5.2 Deontic Modals in Discourse 123

5.2.1 Contextualism about Deontic Modals 123

5.2.2 Agreeing and Disagreeing with Normative Language 124

5.2.3 A Discourse Contextualist Account 126

5.2.4 Features 128

5.2.5 Uncertainty and Indecision in Normative Inquiry 132

5.2.6 Recap 135

5.3 Embedded Contexts and Normative Thought 136

5.3.1 Attitudes and Attitude Ascriptions 136

5.3.2 CR-Contradictions? 139

5.4 Realism and Normative Truth 142

5.5 Recap 145

5.6 Information-Sensitivity 146

6 Extension II: Gradable Adjectives and Degree Vagueness 154

6.1 Introduction 154

6.2 Gradable Adjectives in Discourse 158

6.2.1 Standards and Scoreboards 158

6.2.2 Discourse Dynamics 161

6.2.3 Attitude Ascriptions 165

6.2.4 Recap 166

6.3 Vagueness as Contextual Indecision 167

6.3.1 The Sorites 168

6.3.2 Vagueness, Meaning, and Use 174

6.3.3 Logic, Metaphysics, and Epistemology of Vagueness 176

6.3.4 Vagueness in Language and Thought 181

6.4 Conclusion 182

6.4.1 Beyond Gradable Adjectives 185

6.4.2 Higher-Order Vagueness 185

6.4.3 Vagueness and Degree Semantics 186

7 Extension III: Predicates of Personal Taste and Evaluation 188

7.1 Three Sources of Context-Sensitivity 189

7.2 Matters of Taste in Discourse and Thought 192

7.3 Vagueness with PPTs 198

7.4 Adjectives of Normative and Epistemic Evaluation 203

7.5 Taste and Normative Evaluation 209

7.6 'Find' and "Subjectivity" 213

7.7 Recap 219.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0198783922

9780198783923

OCLC:

959272396