Ernest Lepore and Kirk Ludwig examine the foundations and applications of Davidson's influential program of truth-theoretic semantics for natural languages. The program uses an axiomatic truth theory for a language, which meets certain constraints, to serve the goals of a compositional meaning theory.
Lepore and Ludwig explain and clarify the motivations for the approach, and then consider how to apply the framework to a range of important natural language constructions, including quantifiers, proper names, indexicals, simple and complex demonstratives, quotation, adjectives and adverbs, the simple and perfect tenses, temporal adverbials and temporal quantifiers, tense in sentential complement clauses, attitude and indirect discourse reports, and the problem of interrogative and imperative sentences. They not only discuss Davidson's own contributions to these subjects but consider criticisms, developments, and alternatives as well. They conclude with a discussion of logical form in natural language in light of the approach, the role of the concept of truth in the program, and Davidson's view of it. Anyone working on meaning will find this book invaluable.
Introduction 1. Truth-theoretic semantics: basic framework 2. Quantifiers 3. Implementation of the extension of the truth theory to quantifiers 4. Proper names, indexicals and simple demonstratives 5. Complex demonstratives 6. The semantics of quotation 7. Adjectives and adverbs 8. The simple tenses of state and event verbs 9. Temporal adverbials and quantifiers 10. Tense in sentential complements and the perfect tenses 11. Opaque contexts: indirect discourse and attitude sentences 12. Non-declarative sentences 13. Semantic structure and logical form 14. Truth and correspondence
Ernest Leporeis Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University and Associate Director of the Rutgers Center for Cognitive Science.
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