Semantic externalism

Semantic externalism

In the philosophy of language, semantic externalism is the view that the meaning of a term is determined, in whole or in part, by factors external to the speaker. According to an externalist position, one can claim without contradiction that two speakers could be in exactly the same mental state at the time of an utterance, and yet mean different things by that utterance. The philosopher Hilary Putnam has summarized the position with the statement: "meanings just ain't in the head."

Although he did not himself use the term 'externalism' at the time, Hilary Putnam is generally considered to have invented semantic externalism in his 1975 paper "The Meaning of 'Meaning'", and the Twin Earth thought experiment he employed there to argue for the position is frequently cited in arguments over externalism to this day.

Externalism is generally thought to be a necessary consequence of any causal theory of reference; since the causal history of a term is not internal, the involvement of that history in determining the term's referent is enough to satisfy the externalist thesis. However, Putnam and many subsequent externalists have maintained that not only reference, but sense as well is determined, at least in part, by external factors. (see sense and reference)

While it is common to shorten 'semantic externalism' to 'externalism' within the context of the debate, one must be careful in doing so, as there are several distinct debates in philosophy that employ the terms 'externalism' and 'internalism'.

Arguments for Externalism

Putnam presented a variety of arguments for the exernalist position, the most famous being those that concerned Twin Earth. Subsequent philosophers have produced other, related thought experiments, most notably Donald Davidson's swamp man experiment. However, there have been numerous arguments for externalism that do not involve science-fiction scenarios.

Putnam pointed out, for instance, that he has no knowledge that could distinguish elm trees from beech trees. He has precisely the same concept of one as of the other: 'a deciduous tree growing in North America'. Yet when Putnam makes a statement containing the word 'elm', we take him to be referring successfully to elms. If he makes a claim about a property of elm trees, it will be considered true or false, depending upon whether that property applies to those trees which are in fact elms. There is nothing "in the head" that could fix his reference thus; rather, he concluded, his linguistic community, containing some speakers who "did" know the difference between the two trees, ensured that when he said 'elm', he referred to elms. Putnam refers to this feature of language as 'the division of linguistic labor'.

ee also

*Semantic externalism as a response to skepticism
*New evil demon - an argument against externalism

References

Putnam, H. (1975/1985) [http://internalism.googlegroups.com/web/Putnam%20-%20The%20meaning%20of%20%27meaning%27.pdf?gda=twdJY1oAAABFSTngQf24Sy1RD7yNn1iVgy3Odg0ZctAT1N_Bh2qhdGG1qiJ7UbTIup-M2XPURDQe1sJTwbuelxnpaL6JzH4yeFMfiRQRvg6UTOJgQe0faGtRc9Sp7hcxNJ_gjwZr8bQ The meaning of 'meaning'] . In Philosophical Papers, Vol. 2: Mind, Language and Reality. Cambridge University Press.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Semantic holism — is a doctrine in the philosophy of language to the effect that a certain part of language, be it a term or a complete sentence, can only be understood through its relations to a (previously understood) larger segment of language. There is… …   Wikipedia

  • Internalism and externalism — See also Externalism. Internalism and externalism are two opposing ways of explaining various subjects in several areas of philosophy. These include human motivation, knowledge, justification, meaning and truth. The distinction arises in many… …   Wikipedia

  • Hilary Putnam — Infobox Philosopher region = Western Philosophy era = 20th century philosophy color = #B0C4DE name = Hilary Whitehall Putnam birth = July 31, 1926 flagicon|USA|size=20px Chicago, Illinois school tradition = Analytic main interests = Philosophy of …   Wikipedia

  • Philosophy of mind — A phrenological mapping[1] of the brain. Phrenology was among the first attempts to correlate mental functions with specific parts of the brain. Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that studies the nature of the mind, mental even …   Wikipedia

  • Twin Earth thought experiment — The Twin Earth thought experiment was presented by philosopher Hilary Putnam in his 1973 paper Meaning and Reference and subsequent 1975 paper The Meaning of Meaning , as an early argument for what has subsequently come to be known as semantic… …   Wikipedia

  • Philosophy of language — is the reasoned inquiry into the nature, origins, and usage of language. As a topic, the philosophy of language for Analytic Philosophers is concerned with four central problems: the nature of meaning, language use, language cognition, and the… …   Wikipedia

  • Hilary Kornblith — is an American Professor of philosophy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA, and one of contemporary epistemology s most prominent proponents of naturalized epistemology. Kornblith received his B.A. from SUNY Buffalo in 1975 and his… …   Wikipedia

  • Plato — For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation) and Platon (disambiguation). Plato (Πλάτων) …   Wikipedia

  • Proposition — This article is about the term in logic and philosophy. For other uses, see Proposition (disambiguation). In logic and philosophy, the term proposition refers to either (a) the content or meaning of a meaningful declarative sentence or (b) the… …   Wikipedia

  • Outline of philosophy — For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). See also: Index of philosophy articles The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to philosophy: Philosophy – study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”