ABSTRACT
In this chapter four areas are considered on which contemporary philosophers of language have conspicuously made their mark: (1) assertion: a discussion of the conception on which assertion is a conventionally defined speech-act, and in particular of Williamson’s ‘knowledge-rule’; it explains some phenomena which on the surface seem paradoxical; (2) context-relativity: further depth on the idea that indexicality is much more rife than is suggested just by explicit indexicals, and a connection with ‘epistemic relativism’ is sketched; (3) fictional entities: neither Frege nor Russell had a quite satisfactory account of the semantics of fictional objects; we look at some alternative accounts; (4) inferentialism: a perspective on semantics is briefly investigated which flip-flops the classical scheme according to which inference is explained by reference.
