Semantics circle: Non-de dicto construals as a uniform phenomenon. Joint work with Viola Schmitt (HU/MIT)

Abstract:

The description of `de re' is that an individual denoting expression A embedded under an intensional operator B is evaluated transparently relative to B. Consensus has it that this is to be derived by replacement R of [[A]] with alternative concepts (Quine 1956,Kaplan 1968,Lewis 1979 a.o.). We make four novel contributions: (i) R in de re construals is dependent on the Question Under Discussion. (ii) No ambiguity between de re and `de dicto'  exists, and R is involved in both construals. (iii) There is no restriction in de re to individuals, as generalized non-de dicto phenomena share properties (i) and (ii). (iv) A novel analysis  extending R to all non-de-dicto cases: each expression contributes alternatives, intensional operators existentially quantify  over them, yielding parallelism, with quantification restricted by the Question Under Discussion.