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OverviewMany of our deepest disagreements turn in part on matters of definition. Philosophers have long discussed the definitions of knowledge, art, truth, and freedom, and social and political questions about personhood, health and disease, marriage and gender are also commonly thought of as turning in part on definitions. This book contributes to our understanding of how we engage with questions and disagreements of this kind. It argues that disputes about matters of definition are not just about the meanings of words or our concepts, and they do not typically involve change of meaning. Instead, it develops a conception of definition on which engaging in an investigation or a discussion helps determine the meanings of our words without changing them; what is determined is the meaning our words had all along. This temporal externalist view - that what happens at the end of our investigation or discussion can play a role in determining what we meant and thought throughout - puts us in a position to see why typical ways we engage with questions of definition make sense, and are not confused or in need of revision. The book develops this style of view in unprecedented detail, and shows how it helps make sense not only of definitional disputes, but also of disagreements about matters of taste (such as discussions of whether a particular food is delicious, or a certain film is funny).The book also offers powerful new criticisms of currently popular philosophical claims: that disputes about definition should typically be understood as merely verbal or as matters of metalinguistic negotiation or conceptual engineering; that there are inconsistent concepts, which can explain our engagement with some philosophical problems and paradoxes; and that relativism provides the best way understanding of our claims about matters of taste. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Derek Ball (Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of St Andrews)Publisher: Oxford University Press Imprint: Oxford University Press Dimensions: Width: 16.00cm , Height: 1.60cm , Length: 24.00cm Weight: 0.466kg ISBN: 9780198906186ISBN 10: 0198906188 Pages: 208 Publication Date: 15 February 2024 Audience: Professional and scholarly , Professional & Vocational Format: Hardback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: To order  Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us. Table of Contents1: Introduction Part I: Conservatism about Practice and Meaning Sameness 2: Verbal Dispute and Metalinguistic Negotiation 3: Conceptual Engineering: Ambitious or Anodyne? 4: Why Are Paradoxes Hard? On the Explanatory Inecacy of Inconsistent Concepts Part II: Temporal Externalism 5: Definition: What and When 6: Stipulation Reconsidered: Temporal Externalism 7: The Metaphysics and Epistemology of Backwards Deter- mination 8: Contextualism, Relativism, and Metasemantics 9: Temporal Externalism, Context Sensitivity, and Matters of Taste 10: Temporal Externalism: Choice PointsReviewsAuthor InformationDerek Ball is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of St Andrews. His interests span a wide range of topics in philosophy of mind and psychology, philosophy of language, metaphysics, epistemology, and moral philosophy. He holds a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin, and has held visiting fellowships at the Australian National University and the University of Oslo. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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