Home > Events > Dissertation defense: Mike McCourt (PHIL)
S M T W T F S
 
 
 
1
 
2
 
3
 
4
 
5
 
6
 
7
 
8
 
9
 
10
 
11
 
12
 
13
 
14
 
15
 
16
 
17
 
18
 
19
 
20
 
21
 
22
 
23
 
24
 
25
 
26
 
27
 
28
 
29
 
30
 
 
 

Dissertation defense: Mike McCourt (PHIL)

Time: 
Friday, September 03, 2021 - 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Location: 
Language Science Center and Zoom

 

Semantics and pragmatics in a modular mind

Abstract: A distinction is commonly drawn between semantic and pragmatic aspects of linguistic understanding. How should we understand this distinction in a mentalistic linguistics? Some theorists hypothesize that the distinction is grounded in the modularity of semantic processes (where the notion of modularity, if not the hypothesis, is due to Fodor 1983). Others reject this hypothesis and suggest that, from the perspective of linguistic processing, there is no principled distinction to be drawn between semantics and pragmatics. As I argue, although theorists in the first group have sometimes been overly credulous about the modularity hypothesis for semantics, those in the second group have sometimes been too quick to reject it. I therefore provide an impartial and careful discussion of the relevant evidence and arguments, drawing on philosophy of language, psycholinguistics, and cognitive science more generally.

See Events Digest email or Philosophy website for Zoom link.