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), Agust�n 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