Objective
The project investigates the impact that ‘radical contextualism’ (RC) has upon certain foundational issues in the philosophy of language, formal semantics, and philosophy of science. What motivates RC is the idea that our interpretation of a word, and what we refer to by using it, might be very different on different occasions of use. This suggests that our ability to interpret words, or to understand what they mean, depends in part on our being familiar with certain features of the occasions on which words are actually put to use. However, since communicative occasions are not systematically tractable, this seems to render systematic theories of meaning impossible. My chief objective is to think of a way out of this difficulty whilst taking the intuition behind RC seriously.
The key proposal I aim to develop and defend is that RC does not militate against the possibility of constructing theories of meaning, as is commonly assumed. Instead, what RC does challenge are the ontological commitments typically inherited by such theories; e.g. commitment to the existence of objects that are supposed to play the role of stable semantic values of open-class linguistic expressions. My novel response to the challenge from RC will be to propose two ontologically neutral metasemantic frameworks: dynamic content externalism and methodological internalism. I shall assess main hypotheses on the case of natural kind terms.
The project is interdisciplinary, combining insights and techniques from philosophy and formal semantics. I have a background in philosophy of language but I have no training in formal semantics or theoretical linguistics. Hence, this project, supervised by Prof. Martin Stokhof (ILLC) who specialises in dynamic semantics, represents a remarkable opportunity for me to acquire new formal skills, which will not only be necessary for carrying out the proposed research, but also very important for my future career development.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- humanities languages and literature linguistics
- social sciences psychology
- natural sciences computer and information sciences artificial intelligence machine learning
- humanities philosophy, ethics and religion philosophy
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF-EF-CAR - CAR – Career Restart panel
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2014
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
1012WX Amsterdam
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.