Word and Plan
1st Edition
Published on 26. May 2026
197 pages
978-0-231-55957-7 (ISBN)
Description
We commonly believe that communication is successful when a hearer grasps what a speaker means. But Abe can assert "Sam is tall" without having any definite intention about how tall one must be to count as "tall," and Bertha can understand his assertion without grasping such an intention. What exactly has been communicated in such a case? John MacFarlane argues that standard models of meaning and communication cannot answer this question. To answer it, he proposes, we need to see vague talk as not purely factual but in part expressive of linguistic plans. In this book, he gives a novel expressivist account of vagueness and explores its implications for semantics, pragmatics, thought, and disagreement.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York, NY
United States
Publishing group
De Gruyter
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
Digital original
Product notice
Reflowable
Illustrations
13 b&w illustrations
File size
1,95 MB
ISBN-13
978-0-231-55957-7 (9780231559577)
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
John MacFarlane
Word and Plan
Book
05/2026
Columbia University Press
€133.70
Shipment within 10-20 days
Content
Preface
1. Vagueness and Communication
2. Seeing Through the Clouds
3. Indeterminacy as Indecision
4. Indecisive Semantics
5. Metalinguistic Negotiation
6. Probabilistic Information
Bibliography
Index
