Abstract
In this chapter I want to turn away from proper names and towards another class of singular expressions, the class of indexicals. I shall, for the time being, be focusing on syntactically simple indexicals, that is, the so-called pure indexicals (expressions such as ‘I’, ‘today’, ‘here’) and simple demonstratives (’this’, ‘that’ etc.); I’ll come on to discuss complex demonstratives (‘this cat’, ‘that moose’) towards the end of the book.1 I also want to raise a caveat here: I shall not be directly concerned with the anaphoric uses of indexicals and demonstratives (although they will be mentioned in passing). A proper theory of indexicals should be able to provide a unified account of anaphoric and non-anaphoric uses, and I believe that, suitably developed, the story I’ll outline below should provide the basis of just such a theory of indexicals. Working out that suitable development, however, will have to wait for another book.
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© 2010 George Powell
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Powell, G. (2010). Indexicals. In: Language, Thought and Reference. Palgrave Studies in Pragmatics, Language and Cognition. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230274914_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230274914_4
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-30984-9
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