Workshop | Forms of Context-Sensitivity 2 (14 April,13h50-18h00, Sala de Reuniões 2 - FLUP)
FLUP | Instituto de Filosofia
Workshop
FORMS OF CONTEXT-SENSITIVITY 2
April 14, 2026 | 13h50-18h00 | Sala de Reuniões 2
Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto
Many (if not most) expressions in natural languages are context-sensitive, at least in the sense that the same sentences comprising them, when uttered in different contexts, can intuitively have different truth values. There are many ways in which this phenomenon can come about. The meaning of many context-sensitive expressions depends on the context in which they are uttered. Thus, one of the most common forms of context-sensitivity is indexicality: the meaning of expressions such as "I", "here", "now" etc. depends on the speaker's situation. Other expressions are dependent on less objective contextual factors, such as the speakers' beliefs, intentions or preferences. Another source of this form of context-sensitivity comes from the presuppositions the relevant expressions trigger. Finally, many expressions are said to be polysemous, with the exact meaning of a word in certain context being determined by pragmatic mechanisms. But there are other ways in which the context-sensitivity mentioned can manifest. For example, it has been contended that the meaning of certain expressions - and hence the truth value of the sentences in which they occur - depends on the content in which they are assessed.
In this second workshop (see here the first), we explore some of these forms of context-sensitivity, in relation to various natural language expressions. We address questions such as what is the difference between expressivsm and relativism, what are communicative intentions, whether normative considerations should play a role in semantic theorizing, what is the best account of dogwhitles, etc. - as well as various crucial details that arise in connection to these questions.
PROGRAM
13.50: Welcome
14.00-14.50: Eliot Michaelson & Henry Schiller (King's College London), “What are Communicative Intentions?”
15.00-15.50: Tamara Dobler (Free University of Amsterdam), “Which Game Are You Playing? Occasion-sensitivity and Gender Terms”
coffee break
16.10-17.00: Dan Zeman (University of Porto), “An Assessment-Sensitivity Account of Dogwhistles”
17.10-18.00: Eduardo Perez Navarro (University of Santiago de Compostela), “On the Relation between Relativism and Expressivism”
ABSTRACTS PDF available here: https://ifilosofia.up.pt/activities/forms-context-sensitivity-2
Organization:
Dan Zeman and Alba Moreno Zurita.
Project Slurs and the Lexicon: A Rich-Lexicon Approach to Slurs and Other Evaluative Expressions - LEXISLUR (2023.05952.CEECIND - Dan Zeman)
RG Mind, Language and Action Group (MLAG)
Instituto de Filosofia da Universidade do Porto – UID/00502/2025
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)
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Instituto de Filosofia (UI&D 502)
Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto
Via Panorâmica s/n
4150-564 Porto
Tel. 22 607 71 80
E-mail: ifilo...@letras.up.pt
http://ifilosofia.up.pt/
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