Compositionality and Structured Propositions

Thought: A Journal of Philosophy 2 (4):313-323 (2013)
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Abstract

In this article, we evaluate the Compositionality Argument for structured propositions. This argument hinges on two seemingly innocuous and widely accepted premises: the Principle of Semantic Compositionality and Propositionalism (the thesis that sentential semantic values are propositions). We show that the Compositionality Argument presupposes that compositionality involves a form of building, and that this metaphysically robust account of compositionality is subject to counter-example: there are compositional representational systems that this principle cannot accommodate. If this is correct, one of the most important arguments for structured propositions is undermined

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Author Profiles

Lorraine Juliano Keller
Saint Joseph's University of Pennsylvania
John A. Keller
Saint Joseph's University of Pennsylvania

Citations of this work

Propositions as Structured Cognitive Event‐Types.Wayne A. Davis - 2021 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 102 (3):665-692.
Unity through truth.Bryan Pickel - 2019 - Synthese 196 (4):1425-1452.
Propositions are not Simple.Matt Duncan - 2017 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 97 (2):351-366.

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References found in this work

The Nature of Necessity.Alvin Plantinga - 1974 - Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
The Principles of Mathematics.Bertrand Russell - 1903 - Cambridge, England: Allen & Unwin.
The nature and structure of content.Jeffrey C. King - 2007 - New York: Oxford University Press.
The Things We Mean.Stephen Schiffer - 2003 - Oxford, GB: Oxford University Press.

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