Beyond the Letter (Routledge Revivals): A Philosophical Inquiry into Ambiguity, Vagueness and Methaphor in Language

ISBN-13: 9780415581332 / Angielski / Miękka / 2010 / 146 str.

Israel Scheffler;¬Abar;¬Abar

Opis

Ambiguity, vagueness and metaphor are pervasive features of language, deserving of systematic study in their own right. Yet they have frequently been considered mere deviations from ideal language or obstacles to be avoided in the construction of scientific systems. First published in 1979, Beyond the Letter offers a consecutive study of these features from a philosphical point of view, providing analyses of each and treating their relations to one another. Addressed to the fundamental task of logical and semantic explanation, the book employs an inscriptional methodology in the attempt to avoid prevalent forms of question-begging, and, further, in the conviction that sparseness of assumption often reveals points of theoretical interest irrespective of methodolgical preference. The author distinguishes and analyses several varieties of ambiguity, developing new semantic notions in the process; recasts the philosophical treatment of vagueness in the light of recent criticisms of analyticity; discusses the bearing of vagueness on logic; and provides a systematic critique of major recent interpretations of metaphor, developing a revised version of contextualism.

Spis treści

Part I: Ambiguity  1. Introduction to the Problem  2. Inscriptions and Extensions  3. E-Ambiguity, Generality, Vagueness  4. Ambiguity of Occurence: I-ambiguity  5. Ambiguity of Occurence: M-ambiguity  6. A New Problem: Green Centaurs  7. Difference in Meaning  8. Constituent Ambiguity  9. Compound Ambiguity  10. Mention-Selection  Part II: Vagueness 11. Vagueness and I-ambiguity  12. Vagueness, Generality, Precision  13. Vagueness and Molecular Compounds  14. Vagueness, Atomic Compounds and Mention-Selection  15. Relativity and the Universality of Vagueness  16. The Possibility of Vagueness  17. Open Texture, Compounds and Mention-selection  18. Open Texture and Analycity  19. Open Texture and Relative Terms  20. Open Texture and Classification  21. Vagueness and Logic  22. Vagueness, Meaning and Fact  Part III: Metaphor  23. Metaphor, Mention-selection and E-ambiguity  24. Intuitionistic Approach to Metaphor  25. Emotivism and Metaphor  26.  Formulaic Approach to Metaphor  27. Intensional Approach to Metaphor  28. Evaluation of Intensionalism  29. Interactionalism and Metaphor  30. Evaluation of Interactionalism and Metaphor  31. Contextualism and Metaphor  32. Metaphor and Exploration 

O autorze

Israel Scheffler