ISBN : 9780198776802
Philosophy (especially philosophy of language and philosophy of mind), science (especially linguistics and cognitive science), and common sense all sometimes make reference to propositions-understood as the things we believe and say, and the things which are (primarily) true or false. There is, however, no widespread agreement about what sorts of things these entities are. In New Thinking about Propositions, Jeffrey C. King, Scott Soames, and Jeff Speaks argue that commitment to propositions is indispensable, and that traditional accounts of propositions are inadequate. They each then defend their own views of the nature of propositions.
Jeff Speaks: Introduction
Part I - Common ground
1 Jeffrey C. King: What role do propositions play in our theories?
2 Jeff Speaks: What's wrong with semantic theories which make no use of propositions?
3 Scott Soames: Why the traditional conceptions of propositions can't be correct
Part II - Three theories of propositions
4 Jeffrey C. King: Naturalized propositions
5 Jeff Speaks: Propositions are properties of everything or nothing
6 Scott Soames: A cognitive theory of propositions
Part III - Critical essays
7 Jeffrey C. King: Criticism of Soames and Speaks
8 Jeff Speaks: Representational entities and representational acts
9 Scott Soames: Critique of two views: propositions as properties & propositions as facts
Part IV - Further thoughts
10 Jeffrey C. King: Reply to Speaks and Soames
11 Jeff Speaks: Representation and structure in the theory of propositions
12 Scott Soames: Clarifying and improving the cognitive theory to meet its explanatory burden
Bibliography
Index