Single Idea 14739

[catalogued under 19. Language / C. Assigning Meanings / 10. Two-Dimensional Semantics]

Full Idea

For Chalmers, 'water' is two-dimensionally inconstant, in that it has different secondary intensions relative to different worlds of utterance.

Clarification

The 'intension' is what picks out the instances of water

Gist of Idea

'Water' is two-dimensionally inconstant, with different intensions in different worlds

Source

report of David J.Chalmers (Foundations of Two-Dimensional Semantics [2006]) by Theodore Sider - Four Dimensionalism 7.2

Book Reference

Sider,Theodore: 'Four Dimensionalism' [OUP 2003], p.108


A Reaction

In this way 'water' is regarded as being like an indexical (such as 'I'), which has a fixed meaning component, and a second component which varies with different utterances. Maybe.