Literal Meaning [Paperback]

A provocative contribution to the current debate about the best delimitation of semantics and pragmatics.This is a provocative contribution to the current debate about the best delimitation of semantics and pragmatics. Is 'What is said' determined by linguistic conventions, or is it an aspect of 'speaker's meaning'? Do we need pragmatics to fix truth-conditions? What is 'literal meaning'? To what extent is semantic composition a creative process? How pervasive is context-sensitivity? Recanati provides an original and insightful defence of 'contextualism', and offers an informed survey of the spectrum of positions held by linguists and philosophers working at the semantics/pragmatics interface.This is a provocative contribution to the current debate about the best delimitation of semantics and pragmatics. Is 'What is said' determined by linguistic conventions, or is it an aspect of 'speaker's meaning'? Do we need pragmatics to fix truth-conditions? What is 'literal meaning'? To what extent is semantic composition a creative process? How pervasive is context-sensitivity? Recanati provides an original and insightful defence of 'contextualism', and offers an informed survey of the spectrum of positions held by linguists and philosophers working at the semantics/pragmatics interface.François Recanati provides an original defense of contextualism in contribution to the current debate about the best definition of semantics and pragmatics. Is What is said determined by linguistic conventions, or is it an aspect of speaker's meaning ? Do we need pragmatics to fix truth-conditions? What is literal meaning ? To what extent is semantic composition a creative process? How pervasive is context-sensitivity? Recanati offers an informed survey of the spectrum of positions held by linguists and philosophers working at the semantics/pragmatics interface.List of figures; Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. Two approaches to 'what is said'; 2. Primary pragmatic processes; l¦