Dummett’s Legacy: Semantics, Metaphysics and Linguistic Competence

Vignolo, Massimiliano

http://hdl.handle.net/10451/24942

Use this identifier to reference this record.

Name:	Description:	Size:	Format:
Vignolo, Massimiliano_Dummett’s Legacy.pdf		186.09 KB	Adobe PDF	Download

Send Feedback

Authors

Vignolo, Massimiliano

Abstract(s)

Throughout his philosophical career, Michael Dummett held firmly two theses: (I) the theory of meaning has a central position in philosophy and all other forms of philosophical inquiry rest upon semantic analysis, in particular semantic issues replace traditional metaphysical issues; (II) the theory of meaning is a theory of understanding. I will defend neither of them. However, I will argue that there is an important lesson we can learn by reflecting on the link between linguistic competence and semantics, which I take to be an important part of Dummett’s legacy in philosophy of language. I discuss this point in relation to Cappelen and Lepore’s criticism of Incompleteness Arguments.