Beyond Rigidity: Reply to McKinsey


Συγγραφέας: Scott Soames


Scott Soames: Beyond Rigidity: Reply to McKinsey (pdf, 10 pages)
He agrees that if I say this introducing myself to someone, I am correctly counted as telling that person that my name is 'Scott Soames.' However, he denies that in asserting this I have said anything beyond the semantic content of the sentence uttered. Rather, he holds that in addition to its ordinary meaning, (1) has a second, idiomatic meaning which I invoke on this occasion. He thinks this because he takes it to be a convention to use names in this way in introductions - and where there is convention, I suppose, there is meaning.