Commitment and Implicit Assertion

David Ripley (University of Connecticut)

Abstract: I'll sketch an understanding of linguistic meaning as grounded in social norms on language use; the method works with a notion of consequence developed and explored by Greg Restall in a series of pieces. I'll attempt to show that this theory gives us resources for understanding how speakers come to be committed to certain claims, and argue that commitment should be distinguished from the related phenomenon of implicit assertion.