Foundational Issues

Markus Werning, Edouard Machery, Gerhard Schurz, Markus Werning, Edouard Machery, Gerhard Schurz

• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9783110323061
• eBook ISBN: 9783110323627
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Language in Philosophy

Representational systems such as language, mind and perhaps even the brain exhibit a structure that is often assumed to be compositional. That is, the semantic value of a complex representation is determined by the semantic value of their parts and the way they are put together. Dating back to the late 19th century, the principle of compositionality has regained wide attention recently. Since the principle has been dealt with very differently across disciplines, the aim of the two volumes is to bring together the diverging approaches. They assemble a collection of original papers that cover the topic of compositionality from virtually all perspectives of interest in the contemporary debate. The well-chosen international list of authors includes psychologists, neuroscientists, computer scientists, linguists, and philosophers.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Preface
• Is Compositionality an A Priori Principle?Daniel Cohnitz
• Fodor’s Inexplicitness ArgumentReinaldo Elugardo
• Compositionality Inductively, Co-inductively andContextuallyTim Fernando
• Confirmation and CompositionalityKen Gemes
• Levels of Perceptual Content and Visual Images.Conceptual, Compositional, or Not?Verena Gottschling
• Recognitional Concepts and ConceptualCombinationPierre Jacob
• How Similarities ComposeHannes Leitgeb
• The Structure of ThoughtsMenno Lievers
• Intensional Epistemic Wholes: A Study in theOntology of CollectivityAlda Mari
• Impossible PrimitivesJaume Mateu
• Is Compositionality an Empirical Matter?Jaroslav Peregrin
• The Compositionality of Concepts and Peirce’sPragmatic LogicAhti-Veikko Pietarinen
• Semantic Holism and (Non-)Compositionality inScientific TheoriesGerhard Schurz
• Right and Wrong Reasons for CompositionalityMarkus Werning