Diagnosing Sorites arguments

This is a discussion of Delia Fara’s theory of vagueness, and of its solution to the Sorites paradox, criticizing some of the details of the account, but agreeing that its central insight will be a part of any solution to the problem. I also consider a wider range of philosophical puzzles that involve arguments that are structurally similar to the argument of the Sorites paradox, and argue that the main ideas of her account of vagueness helps to respond to some of those puzzles

On truth unpersistence: At the crossroads of epistemic modality and discourse

International audienceWe propose a semantic analysis of the particles afinal (European Portuguese) and alla fine (Italian) in terms of the notion of truth unpersistence, which combines both epistemic modality and constraints on discourse structure. We argue that the felicitous use of these modal particles requires that the truth of a proposition p* fail to persist through a temporal succession of epistemic states, where p* is incompatible with the proposition modified by afinal/alla fine, and that the interlocutors share knowledge of a previous epistemic attitude toward p*. We analyze two main cases, that of plan-related propositions and that of propositions without plans. We also discuss the connections between truth unpersistence and evidentiality

Economic Analysis of Knowledge: The History of Thought and the Central Themes

Following the development of knowledge economies, there has been a rapid expansion of economic analysis of knowledge, both in the context of technological knowledge in particular and the decision theory in general. This paper surveys this literature by identifying the main themes and contributions and outlines the future prospects of the discipline. The wide scope of knowledge related questions in terms of applicability and alternative approaches has led to the fragmentation of research. Nevertheless, one can identify a continuing tradition which analyses various aspects of the generation, dissemination and use of knowledge in the economy

Diagnosing Sorites arguments

This is a discussion of Delia Fara’s theory of vagueness, and of its solution to the Sorites paradox, criticizing some of the details of the account, but agreeing that its central insight will be a part of any solution to the problem. I also consider a wider range of philosophical puzzles that involve arguments that are structurally similar to the argument of the Sorites paradox, and argue that the main ideas of her account of vagueness helps to respond to some of those puzzles. Esta es una discusión sobre la teoría de la vaguedad de Delia Fara, y de su solución a la paradoja de Sorites, criticando alguno de los detalles de su aproximación, pero de acuerdo en que la intuición central es parte de cualquier solución al problema. También considero un rango más amplio de puzles filosóficos que incluyen argumentos estructuralmente similares al argumento de la paradoja de Sorites, y defiendo que las ideas principales de su aproximación a la vaguedad ayudan a responder algunos de esos puzles

Indexical time references and attitude reports

An indexical tense occurring in intensional domains, as in John believed that Mary is pregnant conveys a mismatch between the content reported and the content intuitively attributable to the believer: The actual belief does not seem to involve an indexical reference to the speech time. Current logicosemantic accounts of this mismatch propose a de re interpretation, e.g., there is a state in the real world, of which John believes something. Following Gennari’s (1999a; 2003) account, it is argued that current accounts do not capture multiple instances of belief attributions with indexical tenses and an alternative more flexible account is proposed. Specifically, indexical tenses need not be analyzed de re if the belief reports is considered as an attribution of an implicit belief, rather than an explicit one (Stalnaker 1999). Such attributions are felicitous if there is an inference pragmatically attainable in the common ground that allows the speaker to infer and assert the attributed content. The speaker infers the reported content making extra assumptions normally taken for granted. The account correctly predicts whether a given present or future attitude report is felicitous depending on the availability of the speaker’s inference