Language & Metaphysics Conference

Does the world we experience exist independently of human thought and language?  What role - if any -does language play in determining what exists?  Prof. Michael Devitt (CUNY Graduate Center) will argue that metaphysical questions are prior to semantic question and that the two issues should be separated.  Prof. Amie Thomasson (Dartmouth) will argue that semantics' influence on metaphysics is more nebulous and that, contra Devitt, we cannot neatly separate the two issues.   Prof. Frank Jackson (Princeton/ANU) will support Devitt's position.  Dr. Kristie Miller (University of Sydney) will support Thomasson's position.