Toward a systematic pragmatics (Q770284)

The logical study of a language or language-system is said to be pragmatical if there is reference not only to the signs (as in a syntactical study) and what they denote (as in a semantical study) but also to the speakers or users of the language. The author presents a number of tentative theories of pragmatics of a restricted kind, each theory being presented within a formalized meta-language. Each of these pragmatical meta-languages is an augmented syntactical or semantical meta-language. After a discussion of the nature of pragmatics an object language \(T\) is developed. This is a form of type-theory similar to that of \textit{A. Tarski} [Stud. Philos. 1, 261--405 (1935; Zbl 0013.28903)]. This development is followed by the construction of a syntactical meta-language \(M\) and a syntactical meta-language \(SM_{\text{Des}}^T\) for \(T\). The language \(SM_{\text{Des}}^T\) is then extended to a pragmatical meta-language \(PM^T\). The latter meta-language is obtained from the former by taking ``Acpt'' and ``B'' as new primitives. Atomic sentential functions involving ``Acpt'' are of the form ``\(X\) Acpt \(a, t\)'' where \(X, a, t\) are variables ranging, respectively, over a given finite class of human beings, the expressions of \(T\) and appropriate ``slabs of time''. ``\(X\) Acpt \(a, t\)'' may be read ``the human being \(X\) accepts the sentence \(a\) at time \(t\)''. The primitive ``B'' stands for a certain temporal relation between slabs of time. Thus if ``\(t\)'' and ``\(t_1\)'' are variables or constants for time-slabs, then ``\(t\) B \(t_1\)'' is a formula of \(PM^T\). In \(PM^T\) it is possible to define some notions similar to that of subjective intension. It is also possible to define several relations of quasi co-intensiveness. Several other concepts are defined, though the author feels that his treatment of some of these may be more controversial. The author then discusses object languages other than \(T\), the possibility of an inscriptional pragmatics, non-translational pragmatics and a pragmatics which presupposes only a syntax. He also discusses the notions of utterance and performance. In the last chapter the author returns to the meta-language \(SM_{\text{Des}}^T\). He defines the semantical notion of truth for \(T\) in \(SM_{\text{Des}}^T\), and also several notions of Carnap's \(L\)-semantics. This leads to a development of a theory of absolute intensions. In an appendix the author applies his results to \textit{Nelson Goodman}'s theory of projectible predicates [Fact, fiction and forecast. London: Athlone Press/Univ. of London (1954)].