Meta-Metasemantics, or the Quest for the One True Metasemantics

Bibliographic Data

ID4351530
AuthorsEthan Nowak (0000-0002-5141-3134, Umeå University), Eliot Michaelson (0000-0002-2181-5423, King's College London)
Year2021
Volume72
Issue1
Pages135-154
Publication date2021-12-06
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Philosophical Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0031-8094 • E-ISSN: 1467-9213
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/pq/pqab001
OpenAlexW3129990118
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited31

What determines the meaning of a context-sensitive expression in a context? It is standardly assumed that, for a given expression type, there will be a unitary answer to this question; most of the literature on the subject involves arguments designed to show that one particular metasemantic proposal is superior to a specific set of alternatives. The task of the present essay will be to explore whether this is a warranted assumption, or whether the quest for the one true metasemantics might be a Quixotic one. We argue that there are good reasons-much better than are commonly appreciated-for thinking the latter, but that there nevertheless remains significant scope for metasemantic theorizing. We conclude by outlining our preferred option, metasemantic pluralism

Context (archaeology · Economics · Epistemology · Expression (computer science · Meaning (existential · Pluralism (philosophy · Political science · Scope (computer science · Set (abstract data type · Sociology · Subject (documents · Task (project management · Unitary state · Computer Science · History · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Law · Philosophy · Philosophy and Theoretical Science · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access