The Normativity of Meaning
Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement 51:57-73 (2002)
Abstract
In a discussion of rule-following inspired by Wittgenstein, Kripke asks us to consider the relation which holds between meaning plus by ‘+’ and answering questions like, ‘What is the sum of 68 and 57?’. A dispositional theory has it that if you mean plus by ‘+’ then you will probably answer, ‘125’. That is because, according to such a theory, to mean plus by ‘+’ is, roughly speaking, to be disposed, by and large, and among other things, to answer such questions with the correct sum. Kripke wants to emphasize, by contrast, that if you mean plus by ‘+’ then, faced with the question, ‘What is 68 + 57?’ you ought to answer, ‘125’. One could sum up the assumption about meaning which appears to underpin this criticism of dispositional theories in terms of the slogan that meaning is normative. Allan Gibbard gives us a way of reading that slogan which is suggested by Kripke's brief remarks:The crux of the slogan that meaning is normative … might be another slogan: that means implies ought. To use roughly Kripke's example, from statements saying what I mean by the plus sign and other arithmetic terms and constructions, it will follow that I ought to answer ‘7’ when asked ‘What's 5 + 2?’.Author's Profile
DOI
10.1017/s1358246100008080
My notes
Similar books and articles
On epistemic conceptions of meaning: Use, meaning and normativity.Daniel Whiting - 2009 - European Journal of Philosophy 17 (3):416-434.
Über die sogenannte normativität der bedeutung.Adolf Rami - 2005 - Grazer Philosophische Studien 68 (1):81-117.
Über Die Sogenannte Normativität Der Bedeutung.Adolf Rami - 2005 - Grazer Philosophische Studien 68 (1):81-117.
Is meaning normative?Andrea Guardo - 2010 - In Piotr Stalmaszczyk (ed.), Philosophy of Language and Linguistics. Frankfurt: Ontos. pp. 55-63.
The normativity of meaning.Alan Millar - 2002 - In Anthony O'Hear (ed.), Philosophical Studies. Cambridge University Press. pp. 57-73.
How Might a Davidsonian Rescue the Normativity of Meaning?Morteza Sedaghat Ahangari Hossein Zadeh - 2013 - Filozofia Nauki 21 (2).
Meaning skepticism and normativity.Martin Montminy - 2005 - Journal of Philosophical Research 30:215-235.
The Normativity of Meaning: From Constitutive Norms to Prescriptions.Matthias Kiesselbach - 2014 - Acta Analytica 29 (4):427-440.
The Normativity of Meaning: Guidance and Justification.Matthew Jones - 2015 - International Journal of Philosophical Studies 23 (3):425-443.
Analytics
Added to PP
2016-06-30
Downloads
25 (#465,850)
6 months
1 (#451,971)
2016-06-30
Downloads
25 (#465,850)
6 months
1 (#451,971)
Historical graph of downloads
Author's Profile
Citations of this work
The Normativity of Meaning: From Constitutive Norms to Prescriptions.Matthias Kiesselbach - 2014 - Acta Analytica 29 (4):427-440.
Moore on the right, the good, and uncertainty.Michael Smith - 2006 - In Terry Horgan & Mark Timmons (eds.), Metaethics After Moore. Oxford University Press. pp. 2006--133.
On epistemic conceptions of meaning: Use, meaning and normativity.Daniel Whiting - 2009 - European Journal of Philosophy 17 (3):416-434.
References found in this work
Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language.Paul Horwich - 1984 - Philosophy of Science 51 (1):163-171.
A guide to naturalizing semantics.Barry M. Loewer - 1997 - In C. Wright & Bob Hale (eds.), A Companion to the Philosophy of Language. Blackwell: Oxford. pp. 108-126.