Generic conjunctivitis

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21462002
AutoresJames Ravi Kirkpatrick (0000-0002-3175-3334, University of Oxford, autor de correspondencia)
Año2023
Volumen46
Número2
Páginas379-428
Fecha de publicación2023-04-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaLinguistics and Philosophy (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0165-0157 • E-ISSN: 1573-0549
EditorialSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s10988-022-09371-0
OpenAlexW4308545164
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas48

Generic sentences involving phrasal conjunctions present a prima facie problem for the standard theory of generics according to which they express quasi-universal generalisations about what is characteristic for members of a particular kind. For example, the sentence ‘Elephants live in Africa and Asia’ is true, even though it is uncharacteristic for an elephant to live in both Africa and Asia. In response to this problem, theorists have recently proposed radical departures from the standard view. This paper argues that such departures are unwarranted: not only do they fail to fully accommodate the data involving generic conjunctions, their scope is overly narrow, since the phenomena in question also arise in non-generic contexts. I propose a new theory of generics that aims to account for generic conjunctions in a principled manner and which sheds new light on the mereological commitments of natural language

Epistemology · Linguistics · Mereology · Metaphysics · Philosophy of language · Philosophy of science · Prima facie · Sentence · Computer Science · Historical Linguistics and Language Studies · History · Linguistics and Discourse Analysis · Philosophy · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation