Semantic Externalism

by Jesper Kallestrup

Semantic externalism is the view that the meanings of referring terms, and the contents of beliefs that are expressed by those terms, are not fully determined by factors internal to the speaker but are instead bound up with the environment. The debate about semantic externalism is one of the most important but difficult topics in philosophy of mind and language, and has consequences for our understanding of the role of social institutions and the physical environment in constituting language and the mind. In this long-needed book, Jesper Kallestrup provides an invaluable map of the problem. Beginning with a thorough introduction to the theories of descriptivism and referentialism and the work of Frege and Kripke, Kallestrup moves on to analyse Putnam’s Twin Earth argument, Burge’s arthritis argument and Davidson’s Swampman argument. He also discusses how semantic externalism is at the heart of important topics such as indexical thoughts, epistemological skepticism, self-knowledge, and mental causation. Including chapter summaries, a glossary of terms, and an annotated guide to further reading, Semantic Externalism an ideal guide for students studying philosophy of language and philosophy of mind.

Genres: Philosophy, Linguistics

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[inquiry4ever · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good content. Bad writing. Often there is only a single paragraph occupying nearly a whole page. For some chapter summaries, e.g. chapter 3, one paragraph stretches two pages. That's just awful and painful to read.

(Hypothetically, one might defend that the material is presenting a coherent or seamless reasoning so it's necessary to keep it as a single chunk. Terrible defense: As evident that there are exemplar works of good writing with profound and intricate ideas, e.g. Ted Sider's, or Hilary Putnam's, which may not exhibit punchy and short sentences but they definitely flow )

[Larry]

I’m going to stop reading armchair philosophy starting now