Single Idea 18051

[catalogued under 19. Language / F. Communication / 5. Pragmatics / a. Contextual meaning]

Full Idea

According to the pragmatic approach, presuppositions are constraints on the context: if a sentence s generates a presupposition p, an assertion of s cannot proceed smoothly unless the context already entails p (p is taken for granted).

Gist of Idea

In the pragmatic approach, presuppositions are assumed in a context, for successful assertion

Source

Ofra Magidor (Category Mistakes [2013], 5.3.2)

Book Reference

Magidor,Ofra: 'Category Mistakes' [OUP 2013], p.124


A Reaction

She credits Stalnaker for this approach. There is a choice between the presuppositions being largely driven by internal features of the sentence, or by external features of context. You may not know the context of some statements.