Presuppositional indexicals
I present and defend an account of indexicals that treats indexicals as presuppositional expressions. I argue that the distinction between presupposed and asserted content can replace the more restrictive distinction between character and content that is characteristic of Kaplanian, two-dimensiona...
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ndltd-UTEXAS-oai-repositories.lib.utexas.edu-2152-ETD-UT-2010-12-23002015-09-20T16:57:18ZPresuppositional indexicalsHunter, Julie JoannaIndexicalsPresuppositionKaplanDynamic semanticsSemanticsPresuppositional expressionsI present and defend an account of indexicals that treats indexicals as presuppositional expressions. I argue that the distinction between presupposed and asserted content can replace the more restrictive distinction between character and content that is characteristic of Kaplanian, two-dimensional views. My account, "Presuppositional Indexicals" (PI), is simpler than a two-dimensional account because it does not posit a special layer of meaning for indexicals that cannot interact with truth-conditional content. PI also has broader scope than two-dimensional theories. It opens the door to a general theory of definite noun phrases according to which all definites have two components to their meaning: an asserted component, which contributes new information to a discourse, and a presuppositional component, which determines where asserted information will be attached in a discourse. PI does not stipulate rigidity or referentiality for indexicals as many other theories do. Indexicals do receive a special semantic treatment in PI, but their special semantics are captured entirely in terms of a strategy that indexicals exhibit for the resolution of their presuppositions.text2011-02-10T18:03:51Z2011-02-10T18:04:03Z2011-02-10T18:03:51Z2011-02-10T18:04:03Z2010-122011-02-10December 20102011-02-10T18:04:03Zthesisapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/2152/ETD-UT-2010-12-2300eng |
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Others
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Indexicals Presupposition Kaplan Dynamic semantics Semantics Presuppositional expressions |
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Indexicals Presupposition Kaplan Dynamic semantics Semantics Presuppositional expressions Hunter, Julie Joanna Presuppositional indexicals |
description |
I present and defend an account of indexicals that treats indexicals as presuppositional expressions. I argue that the distinction between presupposed and asserted content can replace the more restrictive distinction between character and content that is characteristic of Kaplanian, two-dimensional views. My account, "Presuppositional Indexicals" (PI), is simpler than a two-dimensional account because it does not posit a special layer of meaning for indexicals that cannot interact with truth-conditional content. PI also has broader scope than two-dimensional theories. It opens the door to a general theory of definite noun phrases according to which all definites have two components to their meaning: an asserted component, which contributes new information to a discourse, and a presuppositional component, which determines where asserted information will be attached in a discourse. PI does not stipulate rigidity or referentiality for indexicals as many other theories do. Indexicals do receive a special semantic treatment in PI, but their special semantics are captured entirely in terms of a strategy that indexicals exhibit for the resolution of their presuppositions. === text |
author |
Hunter, Julie Joanna |
author_facet |
Hunter, Julie Joanna |
author_sort |
Hunter, Julie Joanna |
title |
Presuppositional indexicals |
title_short |
Presuppositional indexicals |
title_full |
Presuppositional indexicals |
title_fullStr |
Presuppositional indexicals |
title_full_unstemmed |
Presuppositional indexicals |
title_sort |
presuppositional indexicals |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2152/ETD-UT-2010-12-2300 |
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AT hunterjuliejoanna presuppositionalindexicals |
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1716821583386902528 |