Extract

The study of human language is, in large part, an empirical enterprise. So it is no surprise that philosophers of language are becoming increasingly interested in experimental data and the methods used to obtain those data. This has led to rapid growth in the literature on experimental philosophy of language, out of which two broad research programmes can be distinguished. The positive programme involves the collection and use of experimental data to help formulate and support various semantic and pragmatic hypotheses. The negative programme involves the collection and use of experimental data to undermine the more traditional armchair methodologies for theorizing about language and, in particular, reference. In mainstream philosophy of language, the negative programme has attracted more attention than the positive.

Advances in Experimental Philosophy of Language (henceforth Advances) collects together eight new papers, along with a brief introduction. While all of the individual papers are high-quality contributions to the field, as a collection they accomplish something more interesting. Together, they indicate that the literature in experimental philosophy of language is undergoing a shift in focus away from the negative programme and towards the positive programme.

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