Workshop on The Act-Type Theory of Propositions

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
 
Workshop on The Act-Type Theory of Propositions
 
University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). Donostia-San Sebastian. Spain
 
December 11-12, 2019
 
 
 
 Recent work in philosophy of language and metaphysics has seen increasing interest in the theory that propositions are types of actions.  The theory is defended in (Hanks 2011, 2015) and (Soames 2010, 2015).  For critical discussion see, among others, (Buchanan and Grzankowski forthcoming), (Collins 2018), (Hom and Schwartz 2013),  (King et. al. 2014),  (Recanati 2019), and  (Reiland 2013, forthcoming).  According to the act-type theory, the primary bearers of representation and truth-conditions are not propositions but rather particular acts of entertaining or judging or asserting.  Propositions are types of these actions, which derive their representational features from their tokens.  The theory has been offered as an alternative to the traditional, Fregean approach to propositions, and it has been motivated by its ability to solve a range of problems, including the problem of the unity of the proposition and puzzles about names and indexical expressions.  The purpose of this workshop is to bring together researchers working on propositions and the act-type theory in order to further explore its prospects and problems.  Some potential questions and topics include:
 
            •  can the act-type theory solve the problem of the unity of the proposition?
            •  the act-type theory and the distinction between force and content
            •  does the act-type theory help solve problems about de se belief?
            •  the existence and modality of act-types
            •  the act-type theory and approaches to linguistic communication
            •  other new approaches to propositions
           
 
Submission deadline: October 7, 2019.
Decisions will be made by October 14. Submissions must be prepared for anonymous review, must not exceed 1000 words of body text, and must be accompanied by a short abstract of about 200 words. The abstract should be in PDF format.  In the accompanying email, please indicate your name, title, institutional affiliation, and contact details. To submit your abstract, or ask any questions, please send an email to [email protected]
 

 Confirmed Speakers:

• Ainhoa Fernández (University of the Basque Country)
• Manuel García-Carpintero (University of Barcelona-LOGOS & BIAP)
• Alex Grzankowski (Birkbeck College. University of London)
• Peter Hanks (University of Minnesota)
• Lorraine Keller (Saint Joseph´s University)
• Indrek Reiland (University of Edinburgh)