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Frontiers of Philosophy in China

ISSN 1673-3436

ISSN 1673-355X(Online)

CN 11-5743/B

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Front Phil Chin    2013, Vol. 8 Issue (1) : 140-155    https://doi.org/10.3868/s030-002-013-0009-8
research-article
Is Compositionality a Trivial Principle?
Richard G. Heck, Jr.()
Department of Philosophy, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
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Abstract

Primarily a response to Paul Horwich’s “Composition of Meanings,” this paper attempts to refute his claim that compositionality—roughly, the idea that the meaning of a sentence is determined by the meanings of its parts and how they are there combined—imposes no substantial constraints on semantic theory or on our conception of the meanings of words or sentences.

Keywords compositionality      Horwich      meaning      semantics     
Corresponding Author(s): Richard G. Heck, Jr.,Email:rgheck@brown.edu   
Issue Date: 05 March 2013
 Cite this article:   
Richard G. Heck, Jr.. Is Compositionality a Trivial Principle?[J]. Front Phil Chin, 2013, 8(1): 140-155.
 URL:  
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fpc/EN/10.3868/s030-002-013-0009-8
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fpc/EN/Y2013/V8/I1/140
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