Collection
Metalinguistic disagreement and semantic externalism
Various forms of metalinguistic disagreement and related projects and phenomena such as “metalinguistic negotiation” (Plunkett & Sundell 2013), “conceptual ethics” (Burgess & Plunkett 2013), “conceptual engineering” (Cappelen 2018), “semantic amelioration” (Haslanger 2012), and “verbal disputes” (Belleri 2017, 2018, 2020; Chalmers 2011; Hirsch 2005, 2009; Jenkins 2014; Sidelle 2007; Vermeulen 2018) have recently been the object of intense attention and discussion.
Although many authors agree that metalinguistic disagreement can be reconciled with some versions of semantic externalism, there are problems: How can we argue rationally about the meanings of linguistic expressions when these are individuated externally and we lack control over/the ability to change them? In what sense can speakers be said to negotiate meanings and what is the relation between idiolectic meaning and public language meaning that any conception of meaning negotiation seems to presuppose? How can verbal disputes be as pervasive as some authors suggest, if meanings are as stable as some forms of semantic externalism indicate? How do different internalist and externalist accounts of meaning fare, and how should we adjudicate between them, when it comes to explaining divergences over (and arguments about) the meanings of words and attempts to change these?
This Collection brings together original, thought-provoking perspectives on these and related questions; it is inspired by and builds upon the discussions that took place during a conference by the same name, hosted by the NOVA University of Lisbon in May 2022.
Editors
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Giulia Terzian
Giulia Terzian is a research fellow at IFILNOVA, within the Reasoning and Argumentation Lab (ArgLab). Her research interests range from the philosophy of language and logic to the philosophy and methodology of science and, more recently, social epistemology. Prior to joining the ArgLab she held research and teaching positions at UNICAMP (Brazil) and the University of Bristol (UK). giuliaterzian@fcsh.unl.pt
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Pedro Abreu
Pedro Abreu is a researcher at the Reasoning and Argumentation Lab (ArgLab) of the NOVA Institute of Philosophy, where he coordinates the Philosophy of Language and Argumentation (PHILA) research group, and an invited professor at the Department of Philosophy of the NOVA School of Social Sciences and Humanities - Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal. Pedro holds a PhD degree in Philosophy (Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2018). He specializes in the philosophy of language, with a particular focus on metasemantics and interpretation. pedroabreu@fcsh.unl.pt
