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Perceptual modes of presentation and the communication of de re thoughts| old_uid | 67 |
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| title | Perceptual modes of presentation and the communication of de re thoughts |
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| start_date | 2005/10/14 |
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| schedule | 11h-13h |
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| online | no |
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| summary | Utterances containing demonstrative or personal pronouns express singular propositions, and it seems hard to see how more than that could be preserved in communication. But the thought entertained by the speaker, and the thought that the hearer may come to entertain, are richer than such propositions. An explanation of this fact is given by Perry and Recanati : there is a process of « interpreting up » and « interpreting down », in which a richer thought is recovered from a bare singular proposition. This solution does not seem able to explain how there is an adjustment of cognitive perspectives in a dialogue, and so more than the singular proposition may become part of what a given utterance conveys. Instead of appealing for a similarity of perspectives, I think we should see the establishment of the referent of an expression as the result of a coordinated and asymmetric activity, in which the hearer plays an active role of searching for the intended referent and indicating when she thinks she has grasped it. This picture is reinforced if we see that the knowledge of the referent requires attention, and that perception itself is constituted by an active exploration of the environment : what is sought is a joint focus of attention, and not the impossible sharing of personal experiences. Nothing is missing in the understanding of a singular proposition by the hearer, there is no rich content lost and then recovered, because the knowledge of the reference by the speaker himself is constituted by a tracking capacity that can be part of a joint activity. The shift of interest from the description of the structure of singular thoughts, as entertained by a lone individual, to the way a mutual acceptance of a referent is established in the course of a conversation, offers a better picture of how singular utterances are used in conversation, and so how they can such semantics. |
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| responsibles | <not specified> |
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