11-12 Jun 2015
Oslo, Norway
THE LOGIC AND METAPHYSICS OF PREDICATION Workshop Oslo, 11-12 June 2015 Organized by Salvatore Florio and ystein Linnebo THEME Do predicates have semantic values? If so, what entities play this semantic role? While some linguistic evidence suggests that predicates co-refer with their nominalizations and therefore have objects as semantic values, various philosophical considerations lend support to the view, famously held by Frege, that predicates stand for predicable entities of a higher type. Since properties are commonly taken to serve as semantic values of predicates, this dispute is intertwined with the debate about the nature of properties. Key questions include: - What does the linguistic phenomenon of nominalization teach us about the semantic contribution of predicates? - Can we develop a theory of properties that, while avoiding paradox, enables them to serve as semantic values of predicates? - What is the relation between properties and sets? - Are all properties definable? Do all definitions (including impredicative ones) define properties? - What is the best response to Frege?s ?concept horse? problem? - Is there some tenable version of the ?reference principle? according to which co-referring expressions are substitutable salva congruitate in all contexts? SCHEDULED SPEAKERS Salvatore Florio (Kansas State), Bob Hale (Sheffield), ystein Linnebo (Oslo), Jon Litland (Texas), Friederike Moltmann (CNRS, IHPST), Agustn Rayo (MIT), Stewart Shapiro (Ohio State), and Robert Trueman (Stirling) CALL FOR PAPERS A limited number of contributed papers will be accepted for presentation. For consideration, please submit an extended abstract or a complete paper, ready for blind review, to oystein.linnebo@ifikk.uio.no by April 1, 2015. To inquire about the event, please email Salvatore Florio at florio@ksu.edu