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24 The Linguist Vol/55 No/3 2016 www.ciol.org.uk FEATURES Problems with Contextualism In response to Contextualist arguments, a number of distinct theoretical positions have emerged. I am among the semantic Minimalists arguing that Contextualist moves can be resisted and that, given a properly nuanced account of the formal features of language and the work a semantic theory should be required to do, Formalism can be retained. 2 Furthermore, Contextualists themselves face significant problems with curtailing the influence of pragmatics. In Grice's example, for instance, what stops the pragmatically determined content 'Smith lacks philosophical talent' from coming to count as part of the literal, semantic content of the sentence 'Smith has nice handwriting'?. Others, known as Indexicalists, 3 reject Contextualist conclusions by arguing that many more expressions than we might initially have envisaged (perhaps all expressions) must be treated as syntactically context-sensitive, i.e. as belonging to the same category as words such as 'this' and 'today'. Another response is to argue, with the semantic Relativists, 4 that the relationship between meaning and truth is more complex than Contextualism allows, ineliminably involving not only a proposition and a state of affairs but also an assessor (so that no content is true simpliciter, but only true-for-an-assessor). Finally, Charles Travis and others argue that an appreciation of the pervasive nature of context-sensitivity reveals that use-based theories were right all along and that meaning can only attach to specific speech acts undertaken in specific contexts and for specific purposes. 5 Semantics vs. pragmatics The debate about how and where to draw the line between semantics and pragmatics rages on, with some hoping that new evidence to break the deadlock may come from neurolinguistics. 6 Although the debate is far from settled, it is not one linguists can afford to ignore as a mere turf war in the philosophy of language. Though it might sometimes seem a matter of housekeeping, this issue does have serious repercussions. Literalist approaches to the interpretation of legal statutes (and academic texts) must be rejected if the propositions speakers literally express always outstrip the words they use. Or again, if Contextualists are right that pragmatics saturates linguistic meaning, then it seems that linguistic comprehension cannot be subserved (as some have thought) by a discrete mental module. 7 Rather, language understanding will turn out to involve the full gamut of human knowledge (and thus computer-based translation systems seem doomed to fail). It seems that matters of genuine import rest on the theoretical questions that philosophers ask about the relationship between linguistic meaning and context, even if, as yet, they cannot agree on an answer. Notes 1 See Kaplan, D (1977) 'Demonstratives'. In Themes from Kaplan, ed J Almog, J Perry and H Wettstein, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 481-564 2 See, e.g. Borg, E (2004) Minimal Semantics, Oxford: Oxford University Press; Borg, E (2012) Pursuing Meaning, Oxford: Oxford University Press 3 E.g. Stanley, J (2002) 'Making it Articulated'. In Mind and Language, 17, 149-68 4 MacFarlane, J (2014) Assessment Sensitivity, Oxford: Oxford University Press 5 Travis, C (2008) Occasion-Sensitivity, Oxford: Oxford University Press 6 See, e.g., work by Stephen Politzer-Ahles 7 See, e.g., Fodor, J (1983) Modularity of Mind, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press Thebig Mundo Lingo organises social events where people can use their languages. Can you explain how it work? When you arrive at the bar we hand you flag stickers to arrange on your chest, from native language at the top, down in order of ability to your weakest at the bottom. If you want to practise Russian, look for someone with the Russian flag at the top and, if possible, one of your other flags below. We tell participants "Stand to meet, sit to quit". Everyone is shy the first time because they're not sure what is going to happen. Usually after half an hour the ice breaks, the shyness drains away and you're smiling with new friends. People are very open and friendly here; the coldness and intensity of the city is lost. Where did you launch Mundo Lingo? On a cold evening in the South American winter of 2011 in Buenos Aires. The first event was held in an Irish bar in the business district and was attended by a staggering eight people. How did you come up with the idea? Close to crying into my Yerba Mate [South American tea], alone in my kitchen watching cockroaches climb the wall, I concluded "This is rubbish". I had been in Argentina a couple of months and was having a difficult time integrating. Working hard, fast-paced hours as a waiter, getting paid little and not having any friends, I was frustrated at how difficult it was In a new series looking at entrepreneurial language projects, we ask Mundo Lingo Director Benji Moreira how he set up the international language exchange initiative © SHUTTERSTOCK