Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the possibility of a fruitful exchange between Brandomian inferentialism and some naturalistic streams in recent scientific theorizing about the nature of norms considered in close relation to culture, language, and psychology. It reflects the thematic structure of the anthology and its four parts as well as the narrower and broader shapes of inferentialism. Inferentialism offers an alternative approach to conceptual content to be classified as a distinctive version of what has come to be known as conceptual-role semantics. Some criticism has centered on the methodological idea that sheds light on the representational dimension of assertible content starting with the inferential dimension. Hans-Johann Glock agrees with inferentialists on one basic point: that the meaning of an expression is constituted by the rules for its correct use. Gary Kemp discusses the relation between inferentialism and a Quinean approach to language and meaning.