Home | UConn Meaning Group

The UConn Meaning Group meets on a regular (mostly weekly) basis throughout the academic year to discuss recent and ongoing work in the areas of Semantics, Pragmatics, and Philosophy of Language. It consists primarily of faculty and graduate students in the Departments of Linguistics and Philosophy, but is open to anyone interested in the topics. Anyone who would like to be on the mailing list is invited to get in touch.

In Spring, 2019, regular meetings will be held on Fridays 1:15-2:15pm in Oak Hall, Room 338.

7/29 Doctoral Dissertation Oral Defense of Richard Anderson

Doctoral Dissertation Oral Defense of Richard Anderson

Monday, July 29th, 2019

03:00 PM - 05:00 PM

Storrs Campus
Manchester Hall 227

The Frege-Geach Problem for Normative Propositions

Philosophy

Contact Information: Marcus Rossberg, marcus.rossberg@uconn.edu
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7/29 Richard Anderson PhD Dissertation Defense

Richard Anderson PhD Dissertation Defense

Monday, July 29th, 2019

03:00 PM - 05:00 PM

Storrs Campus, Storrs Campus
Man 227

Richard Anderson will be defending his PhD dissertation in the Philosophy Department.

Title:

The Frege–Geach Problem for Normative Propositions

Abstract:

The aim of this dissertation is to argue for the following claim: if Hanks' theory of propositions as act-types is correct, then there exists a plausible extension of this theory that solves the Frege–Geach problem for normative propositions—and, as a consequence, that solves the Frege–Geach problem for semantic expressivism more generally. In the dissertation I assume that Hanks' theory is correct, and in this framework develop an account of semantic expressivism that addresses three versions of the Frege–Geach problem: the embedding, inference and negation problems.

First, I examine in detail one extant attempt to support the claim, due to Hom and Schwartz. I argue that their extension is not plausible for two reasons: it does not satisfy a key expressivist constraint, and it encounters a problem with interrogatives. Then I argue that even if their extension were plausible, it would not solve the embedding problem for conditionals, for two reasons: it does not place suitable constraints on applications of force-indicators, and it encounters a problem with mixed descriptive–normative conditionals.

Second, I investigate the negation problem and use my results to argue in defense of a new extension of Hanks' theory that interprets normative predicates as having the dual semantic function of expressing both a set of admissible force-indicators and a deontic property. I argue that this extension is plausible, and then I further extend it by defining force-indicators that are generalizations of assertion and of normative endorsement (and of denial and anti-endorsement) and by defining logical connectives that apply uniformly to assertive and normative propositions. Finally, I argue that this extension provides a neutral semantic and logical framework that respects the semantic boundary between atomic descriptive and normative sentences, but that still addresses the Frege–Geach problem for normative propositions.

Contact Information: Marcus Rossberg, marcus.rossberg@uconn.edu
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8/2 Doctoral Dissertation Oral Defense of Nathan Kellen

Doctoral Dissertation Oral Defense of Nathan Kellen

Friday, August 2nd, 2019

04:00 PM - 06:00 PM

Storrs Campus, Storrs Campus
UCHI Seminar Room

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation: Pluralisms about Truth and Logic

Contact Information: Michael Lynch, mplynch@uconn.edu
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8/24 Philosophy Department Graduate Orientation

Philosophy Department Graduate Orientation

Saturday, August 24th, 2019

12:00 AM - 11:59 PM

Storrs Campus
Manchester Hall

Orientation for Incoming First-year and Continuing Second-year Philosophy Students

Contact Information: Eno Agolli | eno.agolli@uconn.edu
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9/6 Rebecca Stangl (Virginia), Philosophy/Early College Experience Colloquium

Rebecca Stangl (Virginia), Philosophy/Early College Experience Colloquium

Friday, September 6th, 2019

04:00 PM - 06:00 PM

Storrs Campus
FSB 25

Rebecca Stangl (Virginia), Philosophy/Early College Experience Colloquium

Contact Information: Mitchell Green, mitchell.green@uconn.edu
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9/13 Logic Colloquium: Ole Hjortland (Bergen)

Logic Colloquium: Ole Hjortland (Bergen)

Friday, September 13th, 2019

02:00 PM - 04:00 PM

Storrs Campus, Storrs Campus
TBA

Join us for the talk by Ole Hjortland (Bergen, Norway) in the Logic Colloquium!

Details TBA

All welcome.

https://logic.uconn.edu/

Contact Information: https://logic.uconn.edu/about/
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9/13 ECOM Meet&Greet

ECOM Meet&Greet

Friday, September 13th, 2019

04:00 PM - 05:30 PM

Storrs Campus, Storrs Campus, Storrs Campus
UCHI

Please join us for our first ECOM event of the year. Recipients of ECOM summer scholarships will present their work, and we'll mingle and share summer exploits over refreshments.

Contact Information: dorit.bar-on@uconn.edu
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9/20 Logic Colloquium: Luca Tranchini (Tuebingen)

Logic Colloquium: Luca Tranchini (Tuebingen)

Friday, September 20th, 2019

02:00 PM - 04:00 PM

Storrs Campus, Storrs Campus
TBA

Join us for a talk by Luca Tranchini (Tuebingen, Germany) in the Logic Colloquium!

Details TBA

All welcome!

https://logic.uconn.edu/

Contact Information: https://logic.uconn.edu/about/
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9/27 Colloquium, Nicholas Smith

Colloquium, Nicholas Smith

Friday, September 27th, 2019

04:00 PM - 06:00 PM

Storrs Campus
FSB 216

TBA

Contact Information: Paul Bloomfield, phsb@uconn.edu
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10/11 Colloquium, Claire Horisk

Colloquium, Claire Horisk

Friday, October 11th, 2019

04:00 PM - 06:00 PM

Storrs Campus
FSB 216

TBA

Contact Information: Paul Bloomfield, phsb@uconn.edu
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Phone:	(860 486-8123
E-mail:	stefan.kaufmann@uconn.edu
Address:	c/o Stefan Kaufmann Department of Linguistics 365 Fairfield Way, Unit 1145 Storrs, CT 06269-1145

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