Definite descriptions, misdescriptions and semantic content: different ways to solve a tricky puzzle

Michael Devitt (2004, 2007) claims that the predicative material that constitutes complex referential expressions makes a semantic contribution to the proposition expressed. He thus deviates from direct referentialism, according to which every referential expression –either simple or complex– contri...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Díaz Legaspe, Justina
Formato: Articulo
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2009
Materias:
Acceso en línea:http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/110783
https://analisisfilosofico.org/index.php/af/article/view/140
Aporte de:
id I19-R120-10915-110783
record_format dspace
institution Universidad Nacional de La Plata
institution_str I-19
repository_str R-120
collection SEDICI (UNLP)
language Inglés
topic Filosofía
Definite description
Reference
Misdescription
Descripción definida
Referencia
Descripción fallida
spellingShingle Filosofía
Definite description
Reference
Misdescription
Descripción definida
Referencia
Descripción fallida
Díaz Legaspe, Justina
Definite descriptions, misdescriptions and semantic content: different ways to solve a tricky puzzle
topic_facet Filosofía
Definite description
Reference
Misdescription
Descripción definida
Referencia
Descripción fallida
description Michael Devitt (2004, 2007) claims that the predicative material that constitutes complex referential expressions makes a semantic contribution to the proposition expressed. He thus deviates from direct referentialism, according to which every referential expression –either simple or complex– contributes just with an object to the proposition expressed, leaving the predicative material out of the semantic content. However, when dealing with misdescriptions, Devitt has suggested a pragmatic way out: the audience can understand what the speaker is referring to even if the object does not fall under the corresponding description. From my perspective, this proposal questions the semantic validity of the predicative material, together with Devitt’s original claim. In this paper, I propose a way to solve the problem posed by misdescriptions that appeals to the idea of epistemically relativized properties, according to which the properties ascribed to the object –by means of the predicative material– correspond to the way the speaker thinks of it and not to the way the object really is.
format Articulo
Articulo
author Díaz Legaspe, Justina
author_facet Díaz Legaspe, Justina
author_sort Díaz Legaspe, Justina
title Definite descriptions, misdescriptions and semantic content: different ways to solve a tricky puzzle
title_short Definite descriptions, misdescriptions and semantic content: different ways to solve a tricky puzzle
title_full Definite descriptions, misdescriptions and semantic content: different ways to solve a tricky puzzle
title_fullStr Definite descriptions, misdescriptions and semantic content: different ways to solve a tricky puzzle
title_full_unstemmed Definite descriptions, misdescriptions and semantic content: different ways to solve a tricky puzzle
title_sort definite descriptions, misdescriptions and semantic content: different ways to solve a tricky puzzle
publishDate 2009
url http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/110783
https://analisisfilosofico.org/index.php/af/article/view/140
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bdutipo_str Repositorios
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