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Single Idea 16389

[filed under theme 19. Language / C. Assigning Meanings / 9. Indexical Semantics ]

Full Idea

If you and I think 'I am tired', there is a sense in which we think the same thing, and another sense in which we think different things.

Gist of Idea

If two people think 'I am tired', they think the same thing, and they think different things

Source

François Recanati (Mental Files [2012], 18.1)

Book Ref

Recanati,François: 'Mental Files' [OUP 2012], p.246


A Reaction

This is a very nice simple account of the semantic distinctiveness of indexicals, which obviously requires a 'two-tiered framework'. He cites Kaplan and Perry as background.


The 15 ideas with the same theme [giving meanings for terms that obviously depend on context]:

Indexicals are unusual words, because they stimulate the hearer to look around [Peirce]
Science reduces indexicals to a minimum, but they can never be eliminated from empirical matters [Russell]
You can state truth-conditions for "I am sick now" by relativising it to a speaker at a time [Davidson, by Lycan]
If we replace 'I' in sentences about me, they are different beliefs and explanations of behaviour [Perry]
Indexicals individuate certain belief states, helping in explanation and prediction [Perry]
I can know indexical truths a priori, unlike their non-indexical paraphrases [McGinn]
The references of indexicals ('there', 'now', 'I') depend on the circumstances of utterance [Mautner]
I take indexicals such as 'this' and 'that' to be linked to some associated demonstration [Fine,K]
We don't just describe a time as 'now' from a private viewpoint, but as a fact about the world [Le Poidevin]
If two people think 'I am tired', they think the same thing, and they think different things [Recanati]
Indexical don't refer; only their tokens do [Recanati]
Indexicals (like mental files) determine their reference relationally, not by satisfaction [Recanati]
Indexicals are just non-constant in meaning, and don't involve any special concepts [Cappelen/Dever]
Fregeans say 'I' differs in reference, so it must also differ in sense [Cappelen/Dever]
All indexicals can be expressed non-indexically [Cappelen/Dever]