Meaning Diminished: Toward Metaphysically Modest Semantics PDF
Preview Meaning Diminished: Toward Metaphysically Modest Semantics
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,11/3/2019,SPi Meaning Diminished OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,11/3/2019,SPi OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,11/3/2019,SPi Meaning Diminished Toward Metaphysically Modest Semantics Kenneth A. Taylor 1 OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,11/3/2019,SPi 3 GreatClarendonStreet,Oxford,OX26DP, UnitedKingdom OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford. ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship, andeducationbypublishingworldwide.Oxfordisaregisteredtrademarkof OxfordUniversityPressintheUKandincertainothercountries ©KennethA.Taylor2019 Themoralrightsoftheauthorhavebeenasserted FirstEditionpublishedin2019 Impression:1 Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedin aretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,withoutthe priorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress,orasexpresslypermitted bylaw,bylicenceorundertermsagreedwiththeappropriatereprographics rightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproductionoutsidethescopeofthe aboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment,OxfordUniversityPress,atthe addressabove Youmustnotcirculatethisworkinanyotherform andyoumustimposethissameconditiononanyacquirer PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyOxfordUniversityPress 198MadisonAvenue,NewYork,NY10016,UnitedStatesofAmerica BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData Dataavailable LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2018959941 ISBN 978–0–19–880344–7 PrintedandboundinGreatBritainby ClaysLtd,ElcografS.p.A. OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,11/3/2019,SPi This book is dedicated to my amazing parents, Sam and Seretha Taylor, in abiding gratitude for their constant and loving affirmation OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,11/3/2019,SPi OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,11/3/2019,SPi Contents Preface ix 1. SemanticAnalysisandMetaphysicalInquiry 1 2. TheMetaphysicalModestyofNarrowlyLinguistic Semantics 18 3. TheWayofIdeasandtheWayofReference 38 4. SomeConsiderationsagainsttheWayofIdeas 76 5. ModestyasIncompleteness:FeatureorBug? 105 6. AgainsttheMetaphysicalTransparencyof SemanticAdicity 123 7. MetaphysicalEmbarrassment,Indefinite Modifiability,andRulesofUse 142 8. Conclusion:AWayForwardinSemantics andMetaphysics 164 WorksCited 179 Index 187 OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,11/3/2019,SPi OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,11/3/2019,SPi Preface This book was something of an accident. It began its life not as a book, but as one section of a medium-sized chapter in an entirely differentbook—mybookinprogress—ANaturalHistoryofNorma- tive Consciousness. Gradually, it began to take on a life of its own. That is because my original ambition for this material was rather modest. I had hoped to briefly explain and justify the paucity of semantic theorizing about normative language and thought con- tained within A Natural History of Normative Consciousness. No doubt, the semantic analysis of normative thought and talk is a fascinating enough topic and very much worth exploring in its own right.Itiscertainlythefocusofmuchmeta-normativetheorizing.But whenpursuedasawayofgettingatthecorrectmetaphysicsofthings normative,Iconfessthatsemanticanalysishasalwaystendedtoleave me rather cold. Let the semantics of normative language be what it will, I have come to believe, that does very little to settle the correct metaphysics of things normative. I had hoped in part of an early chapterofA NaturalHistoryofNormativeConsciousnessto demon- stratethatmyaversiontowhatIsawasamisguidedapproachtothe metaphysics of normativity is more than a matter of idiosyncratic personal philosophical taste, but is rooted in sound, defensible, and principled views about the nature and limits of semantic inquiry, especially in relation to metaphysical inquiry. Since my chief aim for the envisioned half chapter was not to have an elaborate and potentiallydistractingargumentoverphilosophicalmethodology,but mainly to clear the ground for the task of getting on with the metaphysics of things normative, I had hoped to state my reasons formostlyignoringsemanticissuesaboutnormativethoughtandtalk inrathershortcompass. Forbetterorforworse,ANaturalHistoryofNormativeConscious- ness evolved into a rather large and unwieldy thing. Its projected
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