Gricean Conversational Implicature: What We Say and What We Mean

Paul Grice and the cover of his "Studies in the Way of Words."

Author: Thomas Hodgson Category: Philosophy of Mind and Language Word count: 997 Alex and Chris are making cabbage soup and realize that there isn’t any cabbage in the kitchen. Alex states ‘there is a market nearby’. Chris takes Alex to have said that there is a market nearby. Alex also meant that cabbage can be … Continue reading Gricean Conversational Implicature: What We Say and What We Mean

Frege’s Puzzle and the Meaning of Words

Clark Kent and Superman

Author: Graham Seth Moore Category: Philosophy of Mind and Language Word Count: 996 We sometimes use multiple names for the same person or thing without realizing it. Imagine an ancient astronomer sees a heavenly body in the evening and names it ‘Hesperus.’ They also see a heavenly body in the morning and name it ‘Phosphorus.’ … Continue reading Frege’s Puzzle and the Meaning of Words

Wittgenstein’s Private Language Argument

Author: Ian Tully Category: Philosophy of Mind and Language Word Count: 1000 From roughly §243 to §315 in his Philosophical Investigations, the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein lays out what later commentators have dubbed ‘the private language argument.’1 Wittgenstein imagines a case roughly like the following. Suppose a person is stranded on a deserted island and … Continue reading Wittgenstein’s Private Language Argument

The Extended Mind

Author: Rachel Bourbaki Category: Philosophy of Mind and Language Word Count: 1000 Can your mind be outside of your body? Typically we think that the mind—including our thoughts, beliefs, memories, experiences, attitudes, etc.—is internal to our bodies. A number of philosophers challenge this commonsense view. The view of the mind that these philosophers propose is knows as an extended view, … Continue reading The Extended Mind