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Indexicals, fiction, and perspective

Vecsey, Zoltán (2015) Indexicals, fiction, and perspective. Semiotica, 2015 (203). pp. 109-122. ISSN 0037-1998

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Abstract

David Kaplan elaborated a so-called two-step method for the analysis of indexical expressions. In the first step of the method, the content of indexical sentences is determined with respect to a particular collection of contextual parameters. The second step of the method identifies an actual or counterfactual circumstance with respect to which it is possible to ask for the truth values of sentence contents. In some cases of language use, however, the two-step method cannot be applied in its original form. In fictional discourses, for example, indexical sentences seem to shift their content. Truth Perspectivism is a Kaplanian view that conceives the phenomenon of content-shift as an effect of perspectival operators. It is argued in this paper that Truth Perspectivism has some counterintuitive consequences. For this reason, an alternative view is proposed that is able to explain the underlying mechanism of content-shift in a less controversial way. This alternative view is introduced here under the label Meaning Perspectivism.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Kaplan; shifted indexicals; fictional discourse; truth perspectivism versus meaning perspectivism
Subjects: P Language and Literature / nyelvészet és irodalom > P0 Philology. Linguistics / filológia, nyelvészet
Depositing User: Dr. Csilla Rákosi
Date Deposited: 31 Dec 2015 09:57
Last Modified: 30 Jan 2016 00:15
URI: http://real.mtak.hu/id/eprint/31600

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