Language and Reality from a Naturalistic Perspective

This book celebrates the many important contributions to philosophy by one of the leading philosophers in the analytic field, Michael Devitt.

It collects seventeen original essays by renowned philosophers from all over the world. They all develop themes from Devitt's work, thus discussing many fundamental issues in philosophy of linguistics, theory of reference, theory of meaning, methodology, and metaphysics.

In a long final chapter, Devitt himself replies to the contributors. In so doing, he further elaborates his views on various of these issues, for example defending his claim (in opposition to Chomskyan orthodoxy) that languages are external rather than internal; his well-known causal theory of reference; his "shocking" idea that meanings can be causal, non-descriptive, modes of presentation; his methodological naturalism; his commitment to scientific realism; and his version of biological essentialism.

The volume will appeal to all scholars and students interested in contemporary theoretical analytic philosophy, and will be a must-read for any serious researcher in philosophy of language. It provides a deep insight into the work of one of the most important living philosophers, and will help readers to better understand language and reality from a naturalistic perspective.

Auteur
Andrea Bianchi is an associate professor at the University of Parma. He has published a number of papers on various topics in philosophy of language and philosophy of mind, and is especially interested in foundational issues concerning language. His current research focuses on the relationships between language and thought and the nature of the primal semantic relation, reference. Among other things, he has edited On Reference (Oxford University Press 2015).

Contenu

Chapter 1. Introduction Michael Devitt at Eighty (Andrea Bianchi).- Part I: Philosophy of linguistics.- Chapter 2. Invariance as the mark of the psychological reality of language (John Collins).- Chaprer 3. Priorities and diversities in language and thought (Elisabeth Camp).- Part II: Theory of reference.- Chapter 4. Theories of reference: What was the question? (Panu Raatikainen).- Chapter 5. Multiple grounding (François Recanati).- Chapter 6. Reference and causal chains (Andrea Bianchi).- Chapter 7. The qua-problem for names (dismissed) (Marga Reimer).- Chapter 8. Language from a naturalistic perspective (Frank Jackson). Chapter 9. Michael Devitt, cultural evolution and the division of linguistic labour (Kim Sterelny).- Part III: Theory of meaning.- Chapter 10. Still for direct reference (David Braun).- Chapter 11. Naming and non-necessity (Nathan Salmon).- Chapter 12. Against rigidity for general terms (Stephen P. Schwartz).- Chapter 13. Devitt and the case for narrow meaning (William G. Lycan).- Chapter 14. Languages and idiolects (Paul Horwich).- Part IV: Methodology.- Chapter 15. Explanation first! The priority of scientific over commonsense metaphysics (Georges Rey).- Chapter 16. Experimental semantics, descriptivism and anti-descriptivism. Should we endorse referential pluralism? (Genoveva Martí).- Part V: Metaphysics.- Chapter 17. Scientific realism and epistemic optimism (Peter Godfrey-Smith).- Chapter 18. Species have historical not intrinsic essences (Marion Godman and David Papineau).- Part VI: Michael Devitt's Responses.- Chapter 19. Stirring the possum: Responses to the Bianchi papers (Michael Devitt).