Experimental semantics and why we should do it
讲座信息
讲座时间：2026年10月9日（周五）20:00-21:30
讲座地点：腾讯会议
会议号：360 535 635
密码：161571
会议链接：
//meeting.tencent.com/dm/jrbUzAVdbLMm
主讲人：Michael Devitt
主持人：李金彩（海角网
）
评议人：丁晓军（西安交通大学）、尼科洛·达格鲁马（Nicolò D'Agruma，格拉纳达大学）、朱晓真（广东外语外贸大学）
讲座摘要
Philosophical theories of reference answer the question: In virtue of what does a term—for example, ‘Aristotle’ or ‘water’—refer to its referent? Until the revolution started by Kripke in the early seventies, “description” theories were the received theories for terms in general. The revolution challenged this and proposed alternative “causal-historical” theories for some terms. These rival theories were traditionally tested “from the armchair” against the referential intuitions of the philosophers themselves. Experimental semantics was born out of dissatisfaction with this method and the search for sound empirical ways to test the theories. Should theories be tested against the referential intuitions of the folk? Should they rather be tested against linguistic usage? How can we do that? Do people from different cultures differ over reference? What have we learnt from two decades of experimental work? Where should the field go next?
主讲人介绍
Michael Devitt is a Distinguished Professor of Philosophy (Emeritus) at the Graduate Center of CUNY. His main research interests are in the philosophy of language and linguistics, realism, biological essentialism, and methodological issues prompted by naturalism. His most recent books are Overlooking Conventions: The Trouble with Linguistic Pragmatism (2021); Biological Essentialism (2023); Reference and Beyond: Essays in Philosophy of Language (2025).