Abstract
Dummettian anti-realism repudiates the realist's notion of ‘verification-transcendent’ truth. Perhaps the most crucial element in the Dummettian attack on realist truth is the critique of so-called “realist semantics”, which assigns verification-transcendent truth-conditions as the meanings of (some) sentences. The Dummettian critique charges that realist semantics cannot serve as an adequate theory of meaning for a natural language, and that, consequently, the realist conception of truth must be rejected as well. In arguing for this, Dummett and his followers have appealed to a certain conception of linguistic knowledge. This paper examines closely the appeal to speakers' knowledge of linguistic meaning, its force and limitations.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Appiah, A.: 1986, For Truth in Semantics, Basil Blackwell, Oxford.
Bar-On, D.: 1986, ‘Semantic Indeterminacy and Scientific Underdetermination’, Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 67, 245–263.
Bar-On, D.: 1990, ‘Scepticism: The External World and Meaning’, Philosophical Studies 60, 207–231.
Bar-On, D.: 1992a, ‘On The Possibility of a Solitary Language’, Nous 26, 27–46.
Bar-On, D.: 1992b, ‘Semantic Verificationism, Linguistic Behaviorism, and Translation’, Philosophical Studies 66, 235–259.
Bar-On, D.: 1993a, ‘Indeterminacy of Translation: Theory and Practice’, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, LIII(4), 781–810.
Bar-On, D.: 1993b, ‘Translation and the Subject Matter of Linguistics’, unpublished ms.
Chomsky, N.: 1975, Reflections on Language, Pantheon, New York.
Chomsky, N.: 1982, The Generative Enterprise: A Discussion with R. Huybregts and H. van Riemsdijk, Foris Publications: Dordrecht.
Chomsky, N.: 1986, Knowledge of Language: Its Origin and Use, Praeger, New York.
Davies, M.: 1981, Meaning, Quantification, Necessity, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.
Davies, M.: 1987, ‘Tacit Knowledge and Semantic Theory: Can a Five Per Cent Difference Matter?’, Mind 96, 441–63.
Devitt, M.: 1981, Designation, Columbia University Press, New York.
Devitt, M.: 1991, Realism and Truth, 2nd ed., Basil Blackwell, Oxford.
Dummett, M.: 1976, “What Is a Theory of Meaning (II)’, in G. Evans and J. McDowell (eds.), Truth and Meaning, Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp. 67–137.
Dummett, M.: 1978, Truth and Other Enigmas, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachussetts.
Dummett, M.: 1986, ‘“A Nice Derangement of Ephitaphs”: Some Comments on Davidson and Hacking’, in LePore (ed.), pp. 459–476.
Dummett, M.: 1989, ‘Language and Communication’, in A. George (ed.), Reflections on Chomsky, Basil Blackwell, Oxford.
Dummett, M.: 1991, The Logical Basis of Metaphysics, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachussetts.
Evans, G.: 1981, ‘Reply: Semantic Theory and Tacit Knowledge’, in S. H. Holtzman and C. M. Leich (eds.), Wittgenstein: To Follow a Rule, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, pp. 118–37.
Fodor, J.: 1987, Psychosemantics, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachussetts.
Fricker, E.: 1983, ‘Semantic Structure and Speakers' Understanding’, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society LXXXIII, 49–66.
LePore, E. (ed.): 1986, Truth and Interpretation, Basil Blackwell, Oxford.
Lycan, W.: 1988, Judgment and Justification, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Platts, M.: 1979, Ways of Meaning, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.
Putnam, H.: 1981, Reason, Truth and History, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Putnam, H.: 1987, The Many Faces of Realism, Open Court, LaSalle, Illinois.
Rorty, R.: 1967, The Linguistic Turn, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London.
Romanos, G.: 1983, Quine and Analytic Philosophy, The MIT Press (Bradford), Cambridge.
Searle, J.: 1969, Speech Acts, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Wright, Crispin, 1987, Realism. Meaning and Truth, Basil Blackwell, Oxford.
Ziff, P.: 1984, Epistemic Analysis, D. Reidel, Dordrecht.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bar-On, D. Anti-realism and speaker knowledge. Synthese 106, 139–166 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00413698
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00413698