Full CV

Syllabi

PHIL 110 Introduction to Logic (taught in Fall 2001)

PHIL 718/LING 765 Studies in the Philosophy of Language (taught Fall 2001)

PHIL 510 Theory of Knowledge (taught Spring 2002)

My interests lie primarily in the philosophy of language and mind, and in epistemology. I am also interested in issues in linguistics, especially in psycholinguistics and cognitive linguistics, and in psychology, especially in developmental psychology. My research is of an interdisciplinary nature, and I regard my work as a contribution to what is generally called Cognitive Science.

My recent work in the philosophy of language has focused on issues in pragmatics (that is, issues concerned with the way in which language is used in context). In particular, my work is influenced by Dan Sperber & Deirdre Wilson’s Theory of Relevance. I have tried to apply the insights of Relevance Theory to several of the problems that have traditionally been of concern to philosophers of language. I have written on topics such as the pragmatics of propositional attitude ascriptions, the referential/ attributive distinction, the semantics and pragmatics of indexicals and demonstratives, and on the nature of metaphorical language.

I am currently working with Marga Reimer on an edited volume on the semantics and pragmatics of (in)definites that will be published by Oxford University Press. We have solicited original articles from prominent philosophers of language and linguistics on these topics. The contributors to our volume will be: Joseph Almog, Jay Atlas, Kent Bach, Richard Breheny, Paul Dekker, Michael Devitt, Robin Jeshion, Ruth Kempson, Jeff King, Ernie Lepore, Peter Ludlow, Wilfried Meyer-Viol, Stephen Neale, Geoff Nunberg, Francois Recanati, Marga Reimer, Craige Roberts, Mark Sainsbury, Nathan Salmon, Gabriel Segal, Alice ter Meulen, and Kai von Fintel.

I am currently working on a project in psycholinguistics with Robin Morris . We are interested in rival views of Grice's notion of a generalized conversational implicature. The rival views are those of neo-Griceans such as Levinson on the one hand, and of relevance theorists such as Sperber & Wilson and Carston on the other. We have postulated two processing models, the Default Model and the Underspecified Model, that are inspired by these rival theoretical views. We have used various experimental techniques, including eye monitoring during reading, to test and refine these models. One of our primary aims has been to demonstrate that it is fruitful to apply an eye tracking methodology to an area of pragmatic research that has not previously been explored from a processing perspective.

Another psycholinguistic project I have worked on is one with Cooper Cutting . Our aim was to experimentally test rival views about how and where to draw the line between what is said and what is merely implicated. One aspect of this project was to see what role (if any) is played by a literal or minimal proposition in the process of utterance interpretation.

I am also interested in recent work in developmental psychology concerned with children’s theory of mind and children’s verbal communication skills. I believe that here again insights from Relevance Theory can cast light on issues that have been of concern to developmental psychologists. Mary Sue Sroda and I have worked on an experimental study of children’s referential communication.

 

Teaching at the University of South Carolina

 

At the undergraduate level I regularly teach Introduction to Logic (PHIL 110), and at the upper-level undergraduate/ graduate level I regularly teach Philosophy of Language (PHIL 517/ LING 565). Somewhat less frequently I teach Philosophy of Mind (PHIL 309), Freedom and Human Action (PHIL 310), Knowledge & Reality (PHIL 319), and Theory of Knowledge (PHIL 510). I have also taught special topics courses such as Self and Psychopathology, and graduate seminars on Psychologism in Logic and Epistemology, and on the Semantics and Pragmatics of (In)definites.

 

Major Publications (since 1996)

 

2002

(with Robin Morris) ‘Implicature, Relevance and Default Inferences’. Forthcoming in Sperber, D. & Noveck, I. (eds.), Experimental Pragmatics. Palgrave Press, 2002.

'Truth-conditional pragmatics'. Forthcoming in Philosophical Perspectives, 2002, 16.

'Metaphor and What is Said: A Defense of a Direct Expression View of Metaphor'. Midwest Studies in Philosophy 25, April 2002.

(with J. Cooper Cutting) ‘Literal Meaning, Minimal Propositions and Pragmatic Processing’, Journal of Pragmatics, 2002, 34: 433-456.

‘Generalized Conversational Implicatures and Default Pragmatic Inferences.' In Campbell, J., O'Rourke, M. & Shier, D. (eds.), Meaning and Truth: Investigations in Philosophical Semantics. New York: Seven Bridges Press, 2002, pp. 257-283.

‘Radical Pragmatics.’ In Campbell, J., O'Rourke, M. & Shier, D. (eds.), Meaning and Truth: Investigations in Philosophical Semantics. New York: Seven Bridges Press, 2002, pp.292-302.

2000

‘Attitude ascriptions, context and interpretive resemblance’ In K. Jaszczolt (ed.), The Pragmatics of Propositional Attitudes, Oxford: Elsevier Press, 2000, pp.137-168.

1998

‘Is Verbal Communication a Purely Preservative Psychological Process?’, Philosophical Review, 107(2), April 1998.

(with Mary Sue Sroda) ‘Children’s Use of Contextual Cues to Resolve Referential Ambiguity: An Application of Relevance Theory’, Pragmatics and Cognition, 6(1), 1998, pp. 255-290.

1997

‘Pragmatics, Semantic Underdetermination and the Referential/Attributive Distinction’, Mind, vol.106, no.423, July 1997, pp.375-409.

‘The Communication of De Re Thoughts’, Nous, 31 (2), June 1997, pp.197-225.

‘How Context-Dependent are Attitude Ascriptions?’, The Maribor Papers in Naturalized Semantics, edited by D. Jutronic, December 1997, pp.271-284.

1996

‘Pragmatics and Singular Reference’, Mind and Language, 11(2), June 1996, pp. 133-159.

‘The Truth-Conditional Relevance of De Re Modes of Presentation: A Reply to Grimberg’, Mind & Language, 11(4), December 1996, pp.427-432.

‘Resisting the Step Toward Naturalism’, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 56(4), December 1996, pp.743-770.

2002

'Truth-conditional pragmatics', presented at the joint meetings of the South Carolina Society for Philosophy and the North Carolina Philosophical Society, Charleston, February 8-9, 2002.

(with Robin Morris) ‘Implicature, Relevance and Default Inferences’, presented to the USC Linguistics Colloquium series, Columbia, SC, September 14, 2001.

(with Robin Morris) ‘Implicature, Relevance and Default Inferences’. Invited contribution to a Workshop on Experimental Pragmatics, held in Lyon, France May 17-19, 2001.

‘Metaphor and What is Said: A Defense of a Direct Expression View of Metaphor’ presented at the South Carolina Society for Philosophy meetings, Myrtle Beach, March 4, 2001.

‘Radical pragmatics’, invited contribution to closing workshop of 3rd Annual Inland Northwest Philosophy Conference, Univ. of Idaho, Moscow, ID, April 2000.

‘Generalized Conversational Implicatures and Default Pragmatic Inferences’ presented at the 3rd Annual Inland Northwest Philosophy Conference, Univ. of Idaho, Moscow, ID, April 2000.

(with Cooper Cutting) ‘Literal Meaning and What is Said’, read at conference on Pragmatics and Negotiation, Tel Aviv University, Israel, June 13-16, 1999.

(With Cooper Cutting, Katherine Robinson & David Poynor) ‘Anti-Minimalism and the Local Pragmatic Processing Model’, presented at the Linguistics Association of Great Britain, University of Luton, Thursday September 10, 1998.

 

Other links of interest…

 

To new journal named EPISTEME which will have as its central concern 'social epistemology'. The journal seeks to construct a broad church and welcome in those with divergent views surrounding issues of social epistemology, constructivism, postmodernism, testimony, truth, etc. The journal will be open to contributors from the natural and cognitive sciences, social sciences and humanities, a forum that encourages informed, sober, rigorous, clear and civil engagement.

 

last updated: 04/12/02