MEANING AND USE SYNTHESE LANGVAGE LIBRARY TEXTS AND STUDIES IN LINGUISTICS AND PHILOSOPHY Managing Editors: JAAKKO HINTIKKA, Academy of Finland and Stanford University STANLEY PETERS, The University of Texas at Austin Editorial Board: EMMON BACH, University of Massachusetts at Amherst JOAN BRESNAN, M,assachusetts Institute of Technology JOHN LYONS, University of Sussex .TULIUS M. E. MORA VCSIK, Stanford University PATRICK SUPPES, Stanford University DANA SCOTT, Oxford University VOLUME 3 MEANING AND USE Papers Presented at the Second Jerusalem Philosophical Encounter Apri/1976 edited by AVISHAI MARGALIT The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Jerusalem Philosophical Encounter, 2d, 1976. Meaning and use. (Synthese Ianguage Iibrary; v. 3) lncludes bibliographies and index. 1. Languages-Philosophy-Congresses. 2. Meaning (Philosophy)- Congresses. 3. Pragmatics-Congresses. 1. Margalit, Avishai, 1939- II. Title. III. Series. P106.J46 1976 149'.94 78-16884 ISBN 978-1-4020-3263-9 ISBN 978-1-4020-4104-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4020-4104-4 All Rights Reserved Copyright © 1979 by Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht Originally published by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, HoJiand in 1979 No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form by or any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any informational storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner TO THE MEMORY OF YEHOSHUA BAR-HILLEL TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE IX ADDRESS XI w. v. QUINE I Vse and Its Place in Meaning DONALD DAVIDSON I Moods and Performances 9 Comments by W.V. Quine 21 EDDY M. ZEMACH I Awareness of Objects 23 Comments by Igal Kvart 31 ASA KASHER I What is a Theory of Use? 37 JAAKKO HINTIKKA and LAURI CARLSON I Conditionals, Generic Quantifiers, and Other Applications of Subgames 57 HELMUT SCHNELLE I Circumstance Sentences 93 Comments by Victor Raskin: Is There Anything Non-Circum- stantial? 116 MICHAEL DUMMETT I What Does the Appeal to Use Do for the Theory of Meaning? 123 Comments by Edna Ullmann-Margalit 136 AVISHAI MARGALIT I Open Texture 141 MARCELO DASCAL I Conversational Relevance 153 Comments by Ruth Manor 175 JOHN R. SEARLE I Intentionality and the Use ofLanguage 181 HILAR Y PUTNAM I Reference and Understanding 199 Comments by Michael Dummett 218 Hilary Putnam: Reply to Dummett's Comment 226 P. F. STRAWSON I May Bes and Might Have Beens 229 SAUL KRIPKE I A Puzzle about Belief 239 Comments by Hilary Putnam 284 INDEX 289 PREFACE The second Jerusalem Philosophical Encounter was held in Jerusalem on April 25-28, 1976. The symposium was originally planned to celebrate the 60th birthday of Y ehoshua Bar-Hillel, philosopher and friend. But his sudden death intervened, and turned celebration into commemoration. The topic of the symposiumwas Meaning and Use. For Bar-Hillel, the question 'meaning or use?' was of great importance, one which he took as a question of priorities. Which approach to natural language is prior: the formal, semantical approach, which accords a central position to the truth­ functional concept of meaning and to the theory of reference, or rather the alternative approach which accords the central position to linguistic commu­ nication and prefers dealing with speech acts to dealing with Statements? Bar­ Hillel's answer to this question, in his later years, can be summed up by our title, meaning and use: neither approach deserves priority, each is equally necessary, and they both complement each other. Those familiar with Bar­ Hillel's uncompromising intellectual honesty would know that this answer does not reflect a superficial wish for domestic peace, but stems rather from deep and informed convictions. The issues of meaning and use dominated Bar-Hillel's intellectuallife. At the same time his day-to-day existence was guided by the idea that the meaning of life is to be found in being useful, particularly in being useful to the community of seekers of knowledge. This collection is meant to serve as an expression, I hope an eloquent one, ofthe respect and the love with which his memory is treasured by his friends, colleagues, and students. I owe a special debt of gratitude to Ms. Eva Shorr, who has spared no effort in bringing this volume to its present form. Thanks are also due to the institutions which helped in the organization of the Encounter: the Israel Academy of Seiences and Humanities; the S.H. Bergman Centre for Philo­ sophical Studies, which launched the Jerusalem Philosophkai Encounters; the Van Leer Jerusalem Foundation; and the Israeli Association for Logic, Methodology, and Philosophy of Science. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem A.M. IX ADDRESS Ladies and Gentlemen, Teachers and Friends, we have gathered here this afternoon tor the opening session ot the second Jerusalem Philosophkai Encounter on "Meaning and Use" dedicated to the memory of Yehoshua Bar-Hillel. This is not the place to review his many contributions to the philosophy of mathematics, language and science, nor is it the proper time to assess his great impact as an educator and a teacher. However, on this occasion it is fitting to say a few words in memory of a great philosopher and a beloved friend. There seems to be no way to define a great philosopher other than pointing to outstanding examples. Yehoshua was one such example. lf philosophy is defined as the love of wisdom, Yehoshua was a lover of knowledge. If philo­ sophy is defined as the struggle against dogma, misconcep1ion, and confusion, Yehosbua was a tireless fighter. And if pbilosophy is defined as the search for meaning and understanding, Yebosbua was a devoted seeker. Above all he possessed a genuine passionate intellectual curiosity tbat is tbe trademark of great minds. His personal and intellectual style were inseparable. All of Yehoshua's activities- personaland professional- were characterized by the same warmth, vigor and wit. As students we admired Yehosbua not only for his incisive mind and his personal courage and integrity, but also for bis Iove of man, his enthusiasm for life and his mar­ velous sense of bumor. In the bistory of ideas, different people are remernbered for different tbings: a theorem, an invention, a paradox, their impact on others, or their contribution to the Zeitgeist. Yeboshua will be remembered, I believe, pri­ marily for wbat he was: a deep and penetrating critic, a warm and com­ passionate pbilosopher, a free spirit in search of meaning and truth. Yehoshua lived with an intensity that bis heart could not bear for long. We have alllost something with his departure. The world was better and more exciting when Yehoshua lived in it, and our lives are richer and deeper because we have known him. There is probably no better way to pay tribute XI XII ADDRESS to Yehoshua Bar-Hillel than this meeting of outstanding scholars wl10 gather here in Jerusalem to discuss the problern of Meaning and Use that was always so close to his heart. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Amos Tversky .