LINGUIST List 13.2792

Wed Oct 30 2002

Books: Linguistic Theories: Berger

Editor for this issue: Marisa Ferrara <marisalinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. dgw, Terms and Truth: Berger

			
Title: Terms and Truth
Subtitle: Reference Direct and Anaphoric
Series Title: Bradford Books
			
Publication Year: 2002
Publisher: MIT Press 
 http://mitpress.mit.edu/		 
 
Author: Alan Berger 

Hardback: ISBN: 0262025191, Pages: 232, Price: $35
			
Abstract:

In this book Alan Berger further develops the new theory of
reference--as formulated by Kripke and Putnam--applying it in novel
ways to many philosophical problems concerning reference and
existence. Berger argues that his notion of anaphoric background
condition and anaphoric links within a linguistic community are
crucial not only to a theory of reference, but to the analysis of
these problems as well.

The book is organized in three parts. In part I, Berger distinguishes
between two styles of rigid designation. Based on this distinction, he
develops a theory of reference change for rigid designator terms and
shows how this distinction sheds light on identity statements. In part
II, he offers an account of belief attribution containing vacuous
names within the belief context, of intentional identity statements,
and of true negative existential statements. In part III, he analyzes
anaphoric expressions (i.e., expressions whose reference is determined
in part by other clauses or sentences in a given discourse) and
presents a formalization of anaphora and plural quantification.

Alan Berger is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Brandeis
University.

Lingfield(s): Linguistic Theories

Written In: English (Language Code: ENG)