Research Group
in Analytic Philosophy

Abstract

The problems of classical theories of quotation have led recent theorists
to postulate sui generis facts concerning the syntax of quotations, the
nature and function of demonstratives, or the ways in which noun phrases
contribute to truth conditions. I will argue, however, that the basic
troubles that both classical theorists and theorists of the sui generis
have had with the analysis of quotation are due to the relative
unfamiliarity of the fact that reference-fixing done wholesale by
exploiting term morphology, context-insensitivity and lack of semantic
structure can be consistently combined in certain classes of terms. I will
begin by indicating that this idea, regardless of its degree of
familiarity, is indeed consistent and exemplified with some frequency in
natural languages.