Work

Questions, justification requests, inference, and definition

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: In this paper, I examine connections between the speech acts of assertion, denial, polar questions and justification requests, and the common ground. When we pay attention to the structure of norms governing polar questions, we can clarify the distinction between strong and weak denial, together with the parallel distinction between strong and weak assertion, and the distinct way that these speech acts interact with the common ground. In addition, once we pay attention to the distinct norms concerning justification requests, we can give a distinctive answer to Carroll’s puzzle concerning the force of the logical must and the sense in which certain rules for logical concepts can indeed count as definitions.

Source: Synthese

DOI: 10.1007/s11229-024-04752-3

Author: Greg Restall

Institution: University of St Andrews

Language: English

Topic: Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics

Subfield: Philosophy

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $2,990

Funder: Australian Catholic University