Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Modality and Meaning

  • Book
  • © 1994

Overview

Authors:
  1. William G. Lycan

    1. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Part of the book series: Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy (SLAP, volume 53)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Log in via an institution
eBook USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (13 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxi
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Modality

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
      Download chapter PDF

    2. The Trouble with Possible Worlds

      • William G. Lycan
      Pages 3-24

    3. Three Conceptions of Possible Worlds

      • William G. Lycan
      Pages 25-44

    4. Ersatzing for Fun and Profit

      • William G. Lycan
      Pages 45-72

    5. Against Concretism

      • William G. Lycan
      Pages 73-93

    6. Essences

      • William G. Lycan
      Pages 95-107

    7. Fiction and Essence

      • William G. Lycan
      Pages 109-134

    8. The Paradox of Naming Resolved, by a Kinder, Gentler Theory of Direct Reference

      • William G. Lycan
      Pages 135-170

    9. Relative Modality

      • William G. Lycan
      Pages 171-200

  3. Meaning

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 201-201
      Download chapter PDF

    2. Semantic Competence, Funny Functors, and Truth-Conditions

      • William G. Lycan
      Pages 203-232

    3. Logical Constants and the Glory of Truth-Conditional Semantics

      • William G. Lycan
      Pages 233-248

    4. Propositions and Analyticity

      • William G. Lycan
      Pages 249-262

    5. Stipulative Definition and Logical Truth

      • William G. Lycan
      Pages 263-282

    6. Analogy and Lexical Semantics

      • William G. Lycan
      Pages 283-304

  4. Back Matter

    Pages 305-338
    Download chapter PDF
Back to top

Keywords

About this book

Part I of this book presents a theory of modal metaphysics in the possible-worlds tradition. `Worlds' themselves are understood as structured sets of properties; this `Ersatzist' view is defended against its most vigorous competitors, Meinongianism and David Lewis' theory of existent concrete worlds. Related issues of essentialism and linguistic reference are explored.
Part II takes up the question of lexical meaning in the context of possible-world semantics. There are skeptical analyses of analyticity and the notion of a logical constant; and an `infinite polysemy' thesis is defended.
The book will be of particular interest to metaphysicians, possible-world semanticists, philosophers of language, and linguists concerned with lexical semantics.

Authors and Affiliations

  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA

    William G. Lycan

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Modality and Meaning

  • Authors: William G. Lycan

  • Series Title: Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0936-9

  • Publisher: Springer Dordrecht

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

  • Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 1994

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-7923-3006-6Published: 31 August 1994

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-0-7923-3007-3Published: 31 August 1994

  • eBook ISBN: 978-94-011-0936-9Published: 06 December 2012

  • Series ISSN: 0924-4662

  • Series E-ISSN: 2215-034X

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XXI, 338

  • Topics: Ontology, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Language, Semantics, Logic

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Back to top

Search

Navigation