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Manifestability and Semantic Realism
Author(s) -
Gamble Denise
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
pacific philosophical quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.914
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1468-0114
pISSN - 0279-0750
DOI - 10.1111/1468-0114.00159
Subject(s) - realism , epistemology , miller , assertion , philosophy , argument (complex analysis) , meaning (existential) , wright , semantic theory of truth , metaphysics , naturalism , context (archaeology) , contextualism , critical realism (philosophy of perception) , truth condition , computer science , linguistics , history , interpretation (philosophy) , ecology , biochemistry , chemistry , archaeology , biology , programming language
This paper provides a critical discussion of Alexander Miller's recent attack on antirealist arguments against semantic realism that are based on manifestability requirements. Miller attempts to defend semantic realism against Wright‐Hale arguments from manifestability. He does so in reliance on a McDowell type assertion‐truth platitude. This paper argues in both general terms and in relation to the details of Miller's argument, that attempts to defend semantic realism while accepting a Dummettian‐Wittgensteinian framework on theories of meaning, are misconceived and likely to fail, as I believe is true in Miller's case. Semantic realism is best defended within a context of metaphysical realism, and naturalistic‐causal theories of meaning and explanation.