Table Of ContentRules and Dispositions in Language Use
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Rules and Dispositions in
Language Use
Florian Demont-Biaggi
Military Academy at ETH Zurich
© Florian Demont-Biaggi 2014
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2014 978-1-137-35859-2
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in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2014 by
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ISBN 978-1-349-47125-6 ISBN 978-1-137-35860-8 (eBook)
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To my wife, my parents and my sisters
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Contents
Acknowledgements i x
Introduction 1
Part I Language Use and Rule-Following
1 Kripke’s Wittgenstein 5
1.1 The sceptical scenario 7
1.2 The sceptical solution 26
1.3 Objectivity 35
2 The Rule-Following Debate 40
2.1 Wittgensteinian views 41
2.2 Varieties of realism 59
Part II The Objective Grounds of Language Use
3 Objective Grounds 7 7
4 Dummett on Realism and Antirealism 87
4.1 Language, truth and meaning 88
4.2 The truth-conditional conception of meaning
and understanding 91
4.3 Dummettian verificationism: intuitionism
besieges theories of meaning 98
4.4 Falsificationism as an alternative? 103
4.5 Meaning, realism and antirealism 109
4.6 Miller on truth-conditions and reality 113
4.7 Basic statements 121
5 Basic Statements and Epistemic Rules 126
5.1 Analyticity returns 126
5.2 Objections and extensions 131
5.3 The problem: transmitting justification in
deductive reasoning 134
5.4 Blind reasoning: inferences built into concepts? 141
5.5 Entitlement by proof, truth and common ground 145
5.6 And now? 148
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viii Contents
Part III Linguistic Powers and Their Proper Study
6 Linguistic Powers 1 53
6.1 Knowledge of language 154
6.2 From knowledge to competence 161
6.3 The Chomskian perspective 165
6.4 Baker and Hacker on Chomsky 172
6.5 Methodological naturalism and internalism 180
6.6 Chomsky’s methodological naturalism 181
6.7 Chomsky and the mereological fallacy 188
7 Logic and Language 198
7.1 Medieval logicians on logical form and
grammatical form 201
7.2 F rege’s innovations and the separation of logical form
from grammatical form 203
7.3 H ow Russellian descriptions suggest a separation of
logical form from grammatical form 209
7.4 An alternative notation 211
7.5 The alleged affinity between grammar and logic 214
7.6 Pietroski’s Davidsonian suggestion 219
7.7 A Wittgensteinian perspective 224
Glossary 2 28
Notes 2 31
Bibliography 2 39
Index 2 45
Acknowledgements
I am very happy that Marceline Schmid-Berlinger has suggested that I
use her Verbindungen I for the cover of the book, because I strongly feel
that her motivation for painting V erbindungen I and my motivation for
writing the present book are related.
Anne-Kathrin Schlegel, Florian Wüstholz and Sebastian Wyss have
read parts of earlier versions and provided helpful comments. Hanoch
Ben-Yami has read an earlier manuscript and pointed out some impor-
tant mistakes. I am much indebted to Hans-Johann Glock who has read
most drafts I produced and who has relentlessly drawn my attention to
mistakes and unclear passages. His efforts have helped me to sharpen
my thinking and my writing. All remaining mistakes are, of course, due
to my own shortcomings.
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