Language and scientific explanation
Author | : Eran Asoulin |
Publisher | : BoD – Books on Demand |
Total Pages | : 98 |
Release | : 2020-06-19 |
ISBN-10 | : 9783961102648 |
ISBN-13 | : 3961102643 |
Rating | : 4/5 (643 Downloads) |
Download or read book Language and scientific explanation written by Eran Asoulin and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2020-06-19 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book discusses the two main construals of the explanatory goals of semantic theories. The first, externalist conception, understands semantic theories in terms of a hermeneutic and interpretive explanatory project. The second, internalist conception, understands semantic theories in terms of the psychological mechanisms in virtue of which meanings are generated. It is argued that a fruitful scientific explanation is one that aims to uncover the underlying mechanisms in virtue of which the observable phenomena are made possible, and that a scientific semantics should be doing just that. If this is the case, then a scientific semantics is unlikely to be externalist, for reasons having to do with the subject matter and form of externalist theories. It is argued that semantics construed hermeneutically is nevertheless a valuable explanatory project.