Abstract
In this paper, I defend the thesis that alleffects of extra-linguistic context on the truth-conditions of an assertion are traceable to elements in the actual syntactic structure of the sentence uttered. In the first section, I develop the thesis in detail, and discuss its implications for the relation between semantics and pragmatics. The next two sections are devoted to apparent counterexamples. In the second section, I argue that there are no convincing examples of true non-sentential assertions. In the third section, I argue that there are no convincing examples of what John Perry has called ‘unarticulated constituents’. I conclude by drawing some consequences of my arguments for appeals to context-dependence in the resolution of problems in epistemology and philosophical logic.
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Stanley, J. Context and Logical Form. Linguistics and Philosophy 23, 391–434 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005599312747
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005599312747