CFP: 50 Years of Truth and Meaning -- Donald Davidson and the Philosophy of Language

We invite submissions for the conference "50 Years of Truth and Meaning -- Donald Davidson and the Philosophy of Language", September 12-14 2017, University of Duisburg-Essen, Campus Essen, Germany. The conference takes the 100th anniversary of Davidson’s birth and the 50th anniversary of the publication of two of his landmark papers -- ‘Truth and Meaning’ and ‘The Logical Form of Action Sentences’ -- as an occasion to re-evaluate Davidson’s philosophy of language with an eye to its relevance for current research. The confirmed speakers are:  Kathrin Glüer (Stockholm), Miguel Hoeltje (Duisburg-Essen), Ernie Lepore (Rutgers), Kirk Ludwig (Bloomington), Peter Pagin (Stockholm), Ian Rumfitt (Oxford).

Submissions for contributed talks should address the conference topic, broadly construed. Specific topics to be addressed may include (but are not limited to):

• Foundational questions about the role of truth theories within semantics/theories of meaning
• The semantics of action and event sentences and, more generally, eventuality-semantics
• The paratactic account of indirect speech and attitude reports
• The role of conventions in the determination of linguistic meaning
• The notion of logical form
• The role of truth-conditional semantics for metaphysics and other philosophical enterprises
• The notion of radical interpretation
• The connection between foundational theories of meaning and descriptive semantic theories

Please include two pdf documents with your submission:

1. A coversheet including your name, affiliation, and the title of your abstract.
2. An extended abstract of around 1000 words, prepared for anonymous review.

Please send your submissions to: [email protected]

Submission deadline: June 30
Decision: July 21
Conference: September 12-14
E-mail: [email protected]
Conference website: https://50yotam.wordpress.com/
Organizers: Lars Dänzer and Miguel Hoeltje