CfA: Generic Generalizations and Social Practices
Generic sentences are generalizations about the members
of a category or a kind. In English, they take the form of sentences
such as ravens are black, a raven is black, the raven is black,
and gold is yellow.
Since they do not explicitly
carry information about how many members of the category actually
possess the property, uncovering
their hidden quantifier first
seemed to be the way
to identify their meaning. As
this
inquiry went on, it became clear that the
most common quantifiers were
not enough and that we needed a subtler
account, either relying on a
new quantifier or doing away with classical
set-theoretic semantics altogether.
At
first, the primary question was what do generics mean?
But
it seems like it has
now become how
do they mean?
A
better understanding of generics is
more than of purely intellectual interest. Generics regulate in
various ways our social interactions. For instance, they are means to
express prejudices
and stereotypes. In
so doing, they can
reproduce injustices. But generics are also means to convey important
lessons from adult to child or from expert to layperson, lessons
which might be for the greater good. Since using generics is not
necessarily socially detrimental, an open question is: How
can we evaluate the diverse roles played by generics in society?
This
workshop aims to address
these
two types of questions
about
generics –
their
meaning
and
their
social
dimension.
Papers
in which these two issues intersect are especially welcomed.
Welcomed topics include (but are not limited to):
-
The extensionality or intensionality of generic language
-
The cognitive aspects of generic meaning
-
The impacts of generics in the social world
-
Generics and pragmatics
-
Peculiarities of generic knowledge
-
New approaches to generics
Keynote
speakers:
Marjorie Rhodes (NYU)
Bernhard Nickel (Harvard)
Submission
guidelines:
Abstracts
(maximum 1000 words) should be prepared for blind review and sent
at jordan.girard2@Usherbrooke.ca
The
deadline for submission is
November 30th
2017.
Organizers
Jordan Girard (Université de Sherbrooke)
François Claveau (Université de Sherbrooke)
Location:
University
of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
This workshop
is supported by the CIRST <http://www.cirst.uqam.ca/en/>
and the CRÉ <http://www.lecre.umontreal.