Abstract
In this essay, I propose an analysis of Quine’s example ’Giorgione was so-called because of his size’, grounded on the idea of an obstinate demonstrative. In the first sections, I discuss the advantages and drawbacks of the demonstrative and logophoric treatments of ‘so called’, I highlight certain parallelisms with Davidson’s paratactic view of quotation, and I introduce independent considerations in favor of the idea of an obstinate demonstrative. In the second half of my essay, I apply this notion to Quine’s example, and I discuss its consequences with respect to the principle of substitutivity of coreferential singular terms.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Braun, D. (1996). Demonstratives and their linguistic meanings. Nous, 30, 145–173.
Caplan, B. (2002). Quotation and demonstration. Philosophical Studies, 111, 69–80.
Caplan, B. (2003). Putting things in context. The Philosophical Review, 112, 191–214.
Cappelen, H., & Lepore, E. (2007). Language turned on itself: The semantics and pragmatics of metalinguistic discourse. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Crimmins, M. (1992). Talk about beliefs. Cambridge, MA: The MIT.
Davidson, D. (1979). Quotation. Theory and Decision, 11, 27–40. Reprinted in D. Davidson, Inquiries into Truth and Interpretation. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984.
Forbes, G. (1990). The indispensability of Sinn. The Philosophical Review, 99, 535–563.
Forbes, G. (1996). Substitutivity and the coherence of quantifying in. The Philosophical Review, 105, 337–372.
Forbes, G. (1997). How much substitutivity? Analysis, 57, 109–13.
Forbes, G. (1999). Enlightened semantics for simple sentences. Analysis, 59, 86–91.
Forbes, G. (2006). Attitude problems. Oxford: Clarendon.
Garcia-Carpintero, M. (2004). The deferred ostension theory of quotation. Nous, 38, 674–692.
Gomez-Torrente, M. (2001). Quotation revisited. Philosophical Studies, 102, 123–153.
Kaplan, D. (1977). Demonstratives (ms). (Reprinted in J. Almog, J. Perry, and H. Wettstein (Eds.), Themes from Kaplan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989).
Kaplan, D. (1989). Afterthoughts. In J. Almog, J. Perry & H. Wettstein (Eds.), Themes from Kaplan. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kripke, S. (1977). Speaker’s reference and semantic reference. In P. A. French, T. E. Uehling, Jr., & H. K. Wettstein (Eds.), Contemporary perspectives in the philosophy of language (pp. 6–27). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Reprinted in A. P. Martinich (Ed.), The philosophy of language (pp. 249–268). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985.
Lewis, D. (1970). General semantics. Synthese, 22, 18–67. Reprinted in Lewis, D., Philosophical Papers, Vol. 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Montalbetti, M. (2003). Reference transfers and the Giorgione problem. In A. Barss (Ed.), Anaphora, a reference guide. Oxford: Blackwell
Predelli, S. (2008a). From the expressive to the derogatory: on the semantic role for non-truth-conditional meaning. Manuscript.
Predelli, S. (2008). Vocatives. Analysis, 68, 97–105.
Predelli, S. (2009). The demonstrative theory of quotation. Linguistics and Philosophy, 31, 555–572.
Predelli, S. (forthcoming). “Socrates” and Socrates. American Philosophical Quarterly.
Quine, W. V. O. (1961). Reference and modality. In W. Quine (Ed.), From a logical point of view, pp. 139–57. New York: Harper and Row. Reprinted in L. Linsky (Ed.), Reference and Modality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Reimer, M. (1996). Quotation marks: demonstratives or demonstrations? Analysis, 56, 131–141.
Salmon, N. (1986). Frege’s puzzle. Cambridge, MA: The MIT.
Salmon, N. (2002). Demonstrating and necessity. The Philosophical Review, 111, 497–538.
Soames, S. (1987). Direct reference, propositional attitudes, and semantic content. Philosophical Topics, 15.
Travis, C. (1997). Pragmatics. In B. Hale & C. Wright (Eds.), A companion to the philosophy of language. Oxford: Blackwell.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Predelli, S. Substitutivity, Obstinacy, and the Case of Giorgione. J Philos Logic 39, 5–21 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10992-009-9102-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10992-009-9102-1