The Nature of the Objects of Thought and Assertion seminar series: Pretense, cancellation, and the act theory of propositions Event

The qualification ‘substantive’ is meant to contrast with ‘minimal’ or ‘deflationary’ – roughly, views that reject that propositions have a hidden nature, worth investigating. Substantive views appear to create spurious problems by characterizing propositions in ways that make them unfit to perform their theoretical jobs.

I will present in this light some critical points against Hanks’ act theoretic view, and Recanati’s elaboration of Hanks’ notion of cancellation. Both Hanks and Recanati, I’ll argue, rely on problematic conceptions of fiction and pretense.