Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Date of Degree
9-2016
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Program
Philosophy
Advisor
Graham Priest
Committee Members
John Greenwood
Stephen Neale
David Rosenthal
Gary Ostertag
Subject Categories
Comparative Philosophy | Philosophy | Philosophy of Language | Philosophy of Mind
Keywords
meaning, holism, atomism, compositionality, pragmatics, semantics
Abstract
I defend semantic holism, the view that the meaning of an expression is determined by its relations to every other expression in the language of individual competent users. I argue that, once properly understood, most disadvantages attributed to holism can be dissolved and suggest that the core division between the holist and the non-holist is on the question whether invariant meanings shared across all possible occasions where the corresponded expressions are uttered are necessary for the explanation of meaning sharing. I give reason why the answer is negative and demonstrate how to explain our linguistic interaction without such invariant meanings.
Recommended Citation
Yen, Chun-Ping, "Semantic Holism Revisited" (2016). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/1388
Included in
Comparative Philosophy Commons, Philosophy of Language Commons, Philosophy of Mind Commons