Semantics and cognitive value

• Grant number: 13/22364-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2014
• End date: June 30, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy
• Principal Investigator: Marco Antonio Caron Ruffino
• Grantee: Filipe Martone de Faria
• Host Institution: Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas (IFCH). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 14/11895-1 - Semantics and cognitive value, BE.EP.MS

Abstract

Should semantics give an account for not just the relation between words and reality but for the cognitive dimension of language as well? Should a semantic theory be epistemically sensitive, i.e., be able to explain certain cognitive phenomena which involve linguistic expressions? In Frege's "On Sense and Reference" we find a model of semantics that evidently presupposes an affirmative answer to that question. More precisely, an explanation of the cognitive value of expressions is an essential part of his semantic project. For a long time, this model of semantics was widely accepted among philosophers, even by the most prominent direct reference theorists like David Kaplan and John Perry. Even though they defend a theory that is anti-Fregean by nature, they share the assumption that is the task of semantics to explain certain cognitive phenomena. In other words, some philosophers try to fit the direct reference theory - which is contrary to the most fundamental Fregean principles - in the Fregean semantic project. Only in the eighties, in the paper called "Has Semantics Rested on a Mistake?" by Howard Wettstein, that this model of semantics was explicitly criticized. For Wettstein, semantics should not worry about the cognitive dimension of language, and any project of this kind is doomed to fail. My main objective is to study this criticism, so little explored by the literature, and see if it is reasonable.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

MARTONE, FILIPE. Demonstratives and cognitive significance revisited. ANALYSIS, v. N/A, p. 9-pg., 2022-11-01. (13/22364-4)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

FARIA, Filipe Martone de. Problema de Frege, valor cognitivo e referência direta. 2015. Master's Dissertation - Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas Campinas, SP.