Frontiers of Philosophy in China >

2013 , Vol. 8 >Issue 1: 140 - 155

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3868/s030-002-013-0009-8

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Is Compositionality a Trivial Principle?

  • Richard G. Heck, Jr.
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  • Department of Philosophy, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA

Published date: 05 Mar 2013

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2014 Higher Education Press and Brill
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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.

Key words： compositionality; Horwich; meaning; semantics

Cite this article

Richard G. Heck, Jr. . Is Compositionality a Trivial Principle?[J]. Frontiers of Philosophy in China, 2013 , 8(1) : 140 -155 . DOI: 10.3868/s030-002-013-0009-8

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