Philosophical Review 116 (3):361-399 (2007)
Authors |
|
Abstract |
Inscrutability arguments threaten to reduce interpretationist metasemantic theories to absurdity. Can we find some way to block the arguments? A highly influential proposal in this regard is David Lewis’ ‘ eligibility ’ response: some theories are better than others, not because they fit the data better, but because they are framed in terms of more natural properties. The purposes of this paper are to outline the nature of the eligibility proposal, making the case that it is not ad hoc, but instead flows naturally from three independently motivated elements; and to show that severe limitations afflict the proposal. In conclusion, I pick out the element of the eligibility response that is responsible for the limitations: future work in this area should therefore concentrate on amending this aspect of the overall theory
|
Keywords | Analytic Philosophy Contemporary Philosophy General Interest |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
DOI | 10.1215/00318108-2007-002 |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
Psychosemantics: The Problem of Meaning in the Philosophy of Mind.Jerry A. Fodor - 1987 - MIT Press.
Demonstratives: An Essay on the Semantics, Logic, Metaphysics and Epistemology of Demonstratives and Other Indexicals.David Kaplan - 1989 - In Joseph Almog, John Perry & Howard Wettstein (eds.), Themes From Kaplan. Oxford University Press. pp. 481-563.
Individuals: An Essay in Descriptive Metaphysics.Peter Frederick Strawson - 1959 - London, England: Routledge.
View all 97 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
Conceptual Engineering and the Implementation Problem.Sigurd Jorem - 2021 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 64 (1-2):186-211.
The Role of Naturalness in Lewis's Theory of Meaning.Brian Weatherson - 2013 - Journal for the History of Analytical Philosophy 1 (10).
View all 70 citations / Add more citations
Similar books and articles
Assessing the Interpretation of Criteria for Clinical Trial Eligibility: A Survey of Oncology Investigators.Charles Weijer, Benjamin Freedman, Stanley Shapiro, Abraham Fuks, Myriam Skrutkowska & Maria Sigurjonsdottir - unknown
Who May Be President? Constitutional Reinterpretation of Article II's 'Natural Born' Presidential Eligibility Clause.J. Rebekka Susan Bonner - manuscript
Reporting the Study Populations of Clinical Trials. Clear Transmission or Static on the Line?Stanley H. Shapiro, Charles Weijer & Benjamin Freedman - unknown
A Study in Contrasts: Eligibility Criteria in a Twenty-Year Sample of NSABP and POG Clinical Trials.Abraham Fuks, Charles Weijer, Benjamin Freedman, Stanley Shapiro, Myriam Skrutkowska & Amina Riaz - unknown
The Ontological Significance of Inscrutability.Matti Eklund - 2007 - Philosophical Topics 35 (1-2):115-134.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2009-01-28
Total views
663 ( #11,550 of 2,499,748 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
56 ( #14,576 of 2,499,748 )
2009-01-28
Total views
663 ( #11,550 of 2,499,748 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
56 ( #14,576 of 2,499,748 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads