A Logically Transparent Approach to Discourse Reporting

Authors: Washington C.¹; Biro J.²

Source: Mind & Language, Volume 16, Numbers 2-3, March 2001 , pp. 146-172(27)

Publisher: Blackwell Publishing

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Abstract:

In this essay we develop a theory of discourse reports. The theory provides a common set of structural and interpretive principles that together account for the truth conditions of direct, indirect and mixed reports. A distinguishing feature of our view is the assumption that the complement sentence of a report divides exclusively and exhaustively into regions that characterize the content of the reported utterance and regions that characterize the form of the utterance. This assumption implies that mixed reports do not imply full direct or indirect reports. We discuss a classical David-sonian proposal by Herman Cappelen and Ernest Lepore which conflicts with our theory on this latter point and show that it is unable to account for many of the phenomena we discuss.

Language: English

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: Department of Philosophy, University of Maryland, USA 2: Department of Philosophy, University of Florida, USA

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