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What does woman mean? According to two competing views, it can be seen as a sex term or as a gender term. Recently, Jennifer Saul has put forward a contextualist view, according to which woman can have different meanings in different contexts. The main motivation this view seems to involve moral and political considerations, namely, that this view can do justice to the claims of trans women. Unfortunately, Saul argues, on further reflection the contextualist view fails to do justice to those moral and political claims that motivated the view in the first place. In this article I argue that there is a version of the contextualist view that can indeed capture those moral and political aims, and in addition, I use this case to illustrate an important and more general claim, namely, that moral and political considerations can be relevant to the descriptive project of finding out what certain politically significant terms actually mean.

Essentialism--roughly, the view that natural kinds have discrete essences, generating truths that are necessary but knowable only a posteriori --is an increasingly popular view in the metaphysics of science. At the same time, philosophers of language have been subjecting Kripke’s views about the existence and scope of the necessary a posteriori to rigorous analysis and criticism. Essentialists typically appeal to Kripkean semantics to motivate their radical extension of the realm of the necessary a posteriori ; but they rarely attempt to provide any semantic arguments for this extension, or engage with the critical work being done by philosophers of language. This collection brings authors on both sides together in one volume, thus helping the reader to see the connections between views in philosophy of language on the one hand and the metaphysics of science on the other. The result is a book that will have a significant impact on the debate about essentialism, encouraging essentialists to engage with debates about the semantic presuppositions that underpin their position, and, encouraging philosophers of language to engage with the metaphysical presuppositions enshrined in Kripkean semantics. Acknowledgments 1: Introduction, Helen Beebee and Nigel Sabbarton-Leary 2: Rigidity, Natural Kind Terms and Metasemantics, Corine Besson 3: General Terms as Designators: A Defence of The View, Genoveva Martí and José Martínez-Fernández 4: Are Natural Kind Terms Special? Åsa Wikforss 5: The Commonalities Between Proper Names and Natural Kind Terms: A Fregean Perspective, Harold Noonan 6: Theoretical Identity Statements, Their Truth, and Their Discovery, Joseph LaPorte 7: Discovering the Essences of Natural Kinds, Alexander Bird 8: The Elements and Conceptual Change, Robin Hendry 9: On the Abuse of the Necessary A Posterior, Helen Beebee and Nigel Sabbarton-Leary 10: Crosscutting Natural Kinds and the Hierarchy Thesis, Emma Tobin 11: From Constitutional Necessities to Causal Necessities, Jessica Wilson 12: Realism, Natural Kinds and Philosophical Methods, Richard Boyd Notes on Contributors Index Helen Beebee is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Birmingham, UK. Nigel Sabbarton-Leary is completing his PhD at the University of Birmingham, UK

Philosophy of language is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature of meaning, the relationship of language to reality, and the ways in which we use, learn, and understand language.　 The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Language provides a comprehensive and up-to-date survey of the field, charting its key ideas and movements, and addressing　contemporary research and enduring questions in the philosophy of language. Unique to this Companion is clear coverage of research from the related disciplines of formal logic and linguistics, and discussion of the applications in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and philosophy of mind.　 Organized thematically, the Companion is divided into seven sections: Core Topics; Foundations of Semantics; Parts of Speech; Methodology; Logic for Philosophers of Language; Philosophy of Language for the Rest of Philosophy; and Historical Perspectives. Comprised of 70 never-before-published essays from leading scholars--including Sally Haslanger, Jeffrey King, Sally McConnell-Ginet, Rae Langton, Kit Fine, John MacFarlane, Jeff Pelletier, Scott Soames, Jason Stanley, Stephen Stich and Zoltan Gendler Szabo--the Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Language promises to be the most comprehensive and authoritative resource for students and scholars alike. Gillian Russell is Associate Professor in Philosophy at Washington University in St. Louis. Delia Graff Fara is Associate Professor in Philosophy at Princeton University. \"Unusual in its scope and ambition, this Companion offers superbly clear and insightful essays by a judicious mix of eminent figures and up-and-coming scholars. In addition to the standard topics, it is particularly good to have state-of-the-art pieces on the relations between philosophy of language and the other main sub-fields of philosophy. An indispensable resource.\" – Paul Boghossian, New York University \"The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Language has all the virtues of a state-of-the-art collection: lucid articles on cutting-edge topics by leaders in the field, meticulous organization, beyond comprehensive. This book is, and will be for years to come, indispensable.\" – Robin Jeshion, University of Southern California \"Delia Graff Fara and Gillian Russell’s selection of authors and topics is authoritative, imaginative, and cutting-edge. Both students and specialists will learn much from this volume. The essays are well-designed, substantial launch pads for further exploration.\" – Timothy Williamson, University of Oxford \"This is a stunningly wide-ranging collection packed with first-rate authors. I cannot think of anything else that comes near it both for breadth of coverage and for quality.\" – Jennifer Saul, The University of Sheffield \"[This book]excels at being a genuine companion resource, introducing readers not only to the background and core questions that define the philosophy of language, but also to the primary methodologies through which prominent contemporary perspectives on the philosophy of language have, and continue to be, developed. Though the essays in this volume are intended to introduce readers to an area of concern within the study of language, they offer a critical review of it rather than merely mapping the terrain. Thus the book constitutes an invaluable current resource for students and scholars alike. It will appeal to anyone interested in the current state-of-play within this important area of philosophical research. Summing Up: Highly recommended.\" - A.L. Morton, Saint Xavier University, in Choice Preface Part 1: Core Topics 1.1 Extensions, Intensions, Character, and Beyond David Braun 1.2 Semantics and Pragmatics Christopher Gauker 1.3 Logical Form Kirk Ludwig 1.4 Presupposition Paul Dekker 1.5 Implicature Laurence Horn 1.6 Pragmatic Enrichment and Conversational Implicature Francois Recanati 1.7 Meaning and Communication Kent Bach 1.8 Compositionality Josh Dever 1.9 Focus and Intonation Daniel Büring 1.10 Context-Sensitivity Ernie Lepore and Tom Donaldson 1.11 Relativism John MacFarlane 1.12 Vagueness J. Robert G. Williams 1.13 Empty Names Sarah Sawyer 1.14 Relevance Theory Robyn Carston 1.15 Truth and Reference in Fiction Stavroula Glezakos Part 2: Foundations of Semantics 2.1 Reference Teresa Robertson 2.2 Theories of Truth Matti Eklund 2.3 Propositions Scott Soames 2.4 Concepts Christopher Peacocke 2.5 Analytic Truth Cory Juhl and Eric Loomis 2.6 Possible Worlds Semantics Daniel Nolan 2.7 Dynamic Semantics Seth Yalcin 2.8 Event Semantics Barry Schein 2.9 Skepticism about Meaning Michael McDermott Part 3: Parts of Speech 3.1 Names Barbara Abbott 3.2 Verbs Zoltan Gendler Szabó 3.3 Adjectives Chris Kennedy 3.4 Quantifiers and Determiners Robert May and Aldo Antonelli 3.5 Generics Sarah-Jane Leslie 3.6 Anaphora Jeffrey King 3.7 Descriptions Peter Ludlow 3.8 Plurals Bernhard Nickel 3.9 Adverbs Delia Graff Fara 3.10 Mass Terms Jeff Pelletier 3.11 Indexicals and Demonstratives Allyson Mount 3.12 Indicative Conditionals Anthony Gillies 3.13 Subjunctive Conditionals Kai von Fintel 3.14 Questions Paul Hagstrom Part 4: Methodology 4.1 The Role of Experiment in the Philosophy of Language Steve Stich and Edouard Machery 4.2 The Role of Linguistics in the Philosophy of Language Sarah Moss 4.3 The Role of Psychology in the Philosophy of Language Robert Stainton 4.4 The Role of Mathematical Methods in the Philosophy of Language Laurence S. Moss 4.5 The Role of Artificial Languages in the Philosophy of Language Martin Stokhof 4.6 The Role of Intuitions in the Philosophy of Language Michael Devitt Part 5: Logic for Philosophers of Language 5.1 Model Theory: What it Is and What it Isn't John P. Burgess 5.2 Logical Quantifiers Gila Sher 5.3 The Logic of Time and Tense Anthony Galton 5.4 Modal Logic and its Applications to the Philosophy of Language Kit Fine 5.5 Two-Dimensional Logics and Two-Dimensionalism in Philosophy Steven Kuhn 5.6 Many-valued Logics Nicholas J.J. Smith 5.7 Dynamic Logic in Natural Language Johan van Bentham 5.8 Intuitionism Allen Hazen 5.9 Richard Montague's Approach to the Semantics of Natural Languages Rich Thomason Part 6: Philosophy of Language for the Rest of Philosophy 6.1 Philosophy of Language for Epistemology Ram Neta 6.2 Philosophy of Language for Metaethics Mark Schroeder 6.3 Philosophy of Language for Metaphysics 6.3.1 Case Study 1: The Language of Causation Eric Swanson 6.3.2 Case Study 2: Dispositional Expressions Alexander Bird 6.4 Philosophy of Language for Normative Ethics 6.4.1 Language, Gender, and Sexuality Sally McConnell-Ginet 6.4.2 Language and Race Rae Langton, Sally Haslanger and Luvell Anderson 6.5 Apriority Sinan Dogramaci 6.6 Necessity and Meaning Gillian Russell 6.7 Propositional Attitude Reports David Shier Part 7: Historical Perspectives 7.1 Ancient Philosophy of Language Luca Castagnoli and Valentina Di Lascio 7.2 Medieval Philosophy of Language Gyula Klima 7.3 Modern Philosophy of Language Michael Losonsky 7.4 Frege, Russell, and Wittgenstein Michael Potter 7.5 Logical Positivism and Quine Sanford Shieh 7.6 Ordinary Language Philosophy Michael Beaney 7.7 Pragmatics and Context: The Development of Intensional Semantics Jason Stanley 7.8 A Brief History of Generative Grammar Robert Freidin

A new edition of Quine's most important work.Willard Van Orman Quine begins this influential work by declaring, \"Language is a social art. In acquiring it we have to depend entirely on intersubjectively available cues as to what to say and when.\" As Patricia Smith Churchland notes in her foreword to this new edition, with Word and Object Quine challenged the tradition of conceptual analysis as a way of advancing knowledge. The book signaled twentieth-century philosophy's turn away from metaphysics and what Churchland calls the \"phony precision\" of conceptual analysis.In the course of his discussion of meaning and the linguistic mechanisms of objective reference, Quine considers the indeterminacy of translation, brings to light the anomalies and conflicts implicit in our language's referential apparatus, clarifies semantic problems connected with the imputation of existence, and marshals reasons for admitting or repudiating each of various categories of supposed objects. In addition to Churchland's foreword, this edition offers a new preface by Quine's student and colleague Dagfinn Follesdal that describes the never-realized plans for a second edition of Word and Object, in which Quine would offer a more unified treatment of the public nature of meaning, modalities, and propositional attitudes.

This book presents a new development of the famous Language of Thought hypothesis, which has since the 1970s been at the centre of interdisciplinary debate about how the mind works. The book defends and extends the groundbreaking idea that thinking is couched in a symbolic system realized in the brain. This idea is central to the representational theory of mind which has been established as a key reference point in modern philosophy, psychology, and cognitive science. The foundation stone of our present cognitive science is Turing's suggestion that cognitive processes are not associations but computations; and computation requires a language of thought. This book offers a more cogent presentation and a fuller explication of a distinctive account of the mind, with various intriguing new features. The central role of compositionality in the representational theory of mind is revealed: most of what we know about concepts follows from the compositionality of thoughts. The book shows the necessity of a referentialist account of the content of intentional states, and of an atomistic account of the individuation of concepts. Not least among the new developments is the book's identification and persecution of pragmatism as the leading source of error in the study of the mind today.

A landmark in linguistics and cognitive science. Ray Jackendoff proposes a new holistic theory of the relation between the sounds, structure, and meaning of language and their relation to mind and brain. Foundations of Language exhibits the most fundamental new thinking in linguistics since Noam Chomsky's Aspects of the Theory of Syntax in.