The Departmental Colloquium

 

Igal Kvart

(The Hebrew university of Jerusalem)

 

An Encoding Conception in Action-Directed-Pragmatics and Repercussions to Epistemic Contextualism and SSI

 

    I present formal Pragmatics for a domain in Pragmatics that is to be called Action-Directed Pragmatics. The approach offered is general, and focuses on the Pragmatic riddle of how implicit contents are conveyed and understood, by offering an encoding simulation model, in which the speaker and the addressee simulate each other iteratively. The implicit content in such cases consists in the action alluded to, plus modulations on the action-polarity (pro or con) and the degree of the so-called Steering Thrust that accompanies such assertions and is conveyed by verbal locutions, intonation, or bodily and facial gestures. The model would be offered for the domain of ‘serious sayings’ in ‘action-pregnant’ situations. The pragmatic approach will propose a mechanism for the ‘delivery’ of encoded messages.

    I will then use this pragmatic approach to shed light on the puzzling cases that gave rise to Epistemic Contextualism and Pragmatic Encroachment, and argue that it obviates these approaches. I will bring up pragmatic phenomena that render the puzzling cases innocuous.

 

 The lecture will be in English

 

January 15, 2018 | 12:30-14:00

Mandel Building 530