Description

Genoveva Martí (ICREA – U Barcelona): "Problem, qua problem?"

June 13th, 2025. 15:00

Venue: Carlos Santamaria Zentroa, room 4.

Abstract:
The philosophy of language has been dominated by the principle that meaning determines reference, that the conventional use of a term by a linguistic community determines the correct designatum, or the correct domain of application of the term. This is, in principle, an extremely plausible postulate. But, in general, the principle has been interpreted as the claim that the meaning of a term determines its reference or extension once and for all, namely, that whenever a term is introduced into a language as a meaningful term, the past, present and future extension of the term is fixed; otherwise, we risk all the bad consequences of indeterminacy.
In this presentation I will examine a specific phenomenon that challenges the principle of determination of reference: the qua problem. I will argue that some forms and levels of indeterminacy in the use and application of terms are not troublesome and that they do not pose a threat for semantics nor for linguistic communication; we live with them on a daily basis, and a correct theory of meaning should acknowledge that fact. This entails that the qua problem is not really a problem.