Generic conjunctivitis

Dados Bibliográficos

ID21462002
AutoresJames Ravi Kirkpatrick (0000-0002-3175-3334, University of Oxford, autor correspondente)
Ano2023
Volume46
Fascículo2
Páginas379-428
Data de publicação2023-04-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoLinguistics and Philosophy (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0165-0157 • E-ISSN: 1573-0549
EditoraSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s10988-022-09371-0
OpenAlexW4308545164
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas6
Referências 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