Recent Seminars and Lectures

Emma Borg (Reading): Minimal Semantics and the Nature of Context Sensitivity

17th November 2011, 11:30, Room 005, 48/49 Old Elvet

Weekly Research Seminar.

This seminar was held in room 005, 48/49 Old Elvet, Durham. Refreshments were served from 11am with the talk commencing at 11.30am.

Title: Minimal Semantics and the Nature of Context Sensitivity

Abstract:

Minimal semantics is an attempt to defend an old-fashioned kind of formal theory of meaning in the light of recent challenges which argue (often on the basis of intuitions about shifts in truth-conditions across changes in context) for a much more extensive role for contextual (pragmatic) features than formal semantics standardly allows. However, while the outline of the debate between minimalism and its opponents is relatively clear, in practice seeing exactly where theorists disagree (and agree) with one another can be tricky. This paper attempts to clarify the main points of contention in the debate and explores exactly what one needs to hold if one wants to genuinely oppose minimalism.

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