Red herrings in experimental semantics

Cultural variation and epistemic perspectives. A critical notice of Jincai Li's The referential mechanism of proper names

Bibliographic Data

ID21502004
AuthorsMichael Devitt (0000-0003-2298-2490, Graduate Center City University of New York New York New York USA, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume38
Issue4
Pages1147-1156
Publication date2023-09-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueMind & Language (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0268-1064 • E-ISSN: 1468-0017
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/mila.12468
OpenAlexW4384698281
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited18

Concerns with cultural variation and epistemic perspectives have played major roles in experimental semantics. They dominate Li's book (2023). Li's own experimental work provides two promising explanations of the cultural variation: Chinese, but not Americans, tend to agree with a character's false statement because they think it is not her fault that she is wrong or because they are socially conforming. So, the notice argues, the cultural variation is a red herring to the theory of reference. Li preferred explanation is that Chinese and Americans take different epistemic perspectives. The notice argues that this is misguided and another red herring

Epistemology · Herring · Linguistics · Notice · Political science · Sociology · Computer Science · Cultural Differences and Values · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Law · Mathematics · Philosophy

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Open DOIOpen Access