Evans' Argument and Vague Objects

In 1978, Gareth Evans published a short and somewhat cryptic article purporting to establish that there are no vague objects. This paper is a commentary on this. Prima facie, the claim that there are no vague objects is clearly false. Mt Everest, for example, has no precise boundaries. And if this is so, there must be something wrong with Evans' argument. In the paper, I discuss what this is, giving a model of vague objects in the process.

Saying Nothing and Thinking Nothing

This chapter treats empty thoughts and nonsense that appears to make sense. They argue for the existence of what Gareth Evans termed ‘illusions of thought’, and reply to arguments, especially from Herman Cappelen, against their existence, focusing especially on work by Herman Cappelen.

Folk intuitions about reference change and the causal theory of reference

In this paper, we present and discuss the findings of two experiments about reference change. Cases of reference change have sometimes been invoked to challenge traditional versions of semantic externalism, but the relevant cases have never been tested empirically. The experiments we have conducted use variants of the famous Twin Earth scenario to test folk intuitions about whether natural kind terms such as ‘water’ or ‘salt’ switch reference after being constantly (mis)applied to different kinds. Our results indicate that this is indeed so. We argue that this finding is evidence against Saul Kripke’s causal-historical view of reference, and at least provisional evidence in favor of the causal source view of reference as suggested by Gareth Evans and Michael Devitt.

RESPONS TERHADAP KETIDAKSANTUNAN DALAM FILM THE RAID DAN THE RAID 2: BERANDAL KARYA GARETH EVANS

Fenomena ketidaksantunan menjadi hal yang lumrah di masyarakat. Tidak hanya dalam kehidupan sehari-hari, ketidaksantunan juga ditemukan dalam film. Tuturan tidak santun memiliki strategi yang diterapkan oleh penutur yakni strategi ketidaksantunan. Selain itu, terdapat pula respons terhadap ketidaksantunan yang diberikan oleh mitra tutur ketika merasakan serangan muka dari penutur. Artikel ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan respons terhadap ketidaksantunan yang digunakan oleh tokoh-tokoh dalam film The Raid dan The Raid 2: Berandal karya Gareth Evans. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian kualitatif deskriptif. Data dalam penelitian ini berupa tuturan yang mengandung respons terhadap ketidaksantunan dalam film The Raid dan The Raid 2: Berandal. Metode pengumpulan data yang dilakukan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode simak dengan teknik unduh dan teknik catat. Metode analisis data yang digunakan adalah metode analisis kontekstual. Analisis dalam penelitan ini didasarkan pada teori ketidaksantunan Jonathan Culpeper. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa respons terhadap ketidaksantunan yang ditemukan meliputi empat respons, yaitu strategi ofensif-ofensif sebanyak 11 data tuturan, strategi ofensif-defensif sebanyak 28 data tuturan, menerima sebanyak 3 data tuturan, dan tidak merespons sebanyak 12 data tuturan.

The Significance of the Division of Linguistic Labor

This essay aims to explore the significance of Hilary Putnam’s reflections on the division of linguistic labor by putting them into contrast with those of Gareth Evans. Whereas Putnam’s reflections purport to uncover neglected aspects of the contribution of social environment to the meaning and the reference-fixing of conceptual terms, Evans’s reinterpretation of the division of linguistic labor results in obliterating its antisubjectivist and instrumentalist dimension. The crux of the disagreement between Putnam and Evans on the significance of the division of linguistic labor lies in Evans endorsing, while Putnam rejects, the principle of discrimination—a generalization of what Evans calls “Russell’s principle.”

Descriptive Names and Singular Thought

This chapter is concerned with an apparent disagreement between Gareth Evans (1982) and David Kaplan (1989) with regard to the capacities of names introduced into the language by describing their referents. The question at issue is whether such expressions are potential sources of novel singular thought. While Evans’ response is an emphatic “no,” Kaplan’s response is an equally emphatic “yes.” The chapter attempts to resolve (or rather dissolve) this apparent dispute by suggesting that the two philosophers have importantly different phenomena in mind when they talk of “thoughts”—including (and in particular) singular thoughts. Whereas Evans construes thoughts as mental states, Kaplan construes them as semantic contents. Before concluding, it argues for the superiority of the proposed resolution of the Evans/Kaplan debate over that of Francois Recanati (2012), who invokes his Mental File Framework in an attempt to reconcile the seemingly contrary views of Evans and Kaplan.

La trayectoria y el futuro post 2020 del foro APEC

La creación del foro APEC en 1989 ocurrió por casualidad. A principios de ese año los ministerios de relaciones exteriores de Australia y la República de Corea (Corea del Sur) convinieron en hacer un llamado a los países de Asia-Pacífico a fin de buscar cómo hacer avanzar la cooperación regional entre ellos. Quedaban fuera los Estados Unidos y su socio comercial, Canadá, por lo que pronto el gobierno estadounidense hizo el cabildeo necesario para incluir esos dos países en ese proyecto australiano coreano, con lo cual se configuró un área de la Cuenca del Pacífico compuesta por 10 economías de la ribera occidental y dos de la oriental de tal cuenca. En noviembre de 1989, los ministros de relaciones exteriores y de comercio exterior o sus equivalentes de esos 12 países participaron en una conferencia de dos días efectuada en Canberra. Este cónclave, presidido por el canciller australiano Gareth Evans, terminó con el compromiso de efectuar reuniones ministeriales anuales para debatir sobre los problemas del proteccionismo en las corrientes mundiales de mercancías y flujos financieros a fin de hallar soluciones consensuadas y eficaces; los gobiernos de Singapur y Corea se ofrecieron como sedes para encuentros en los dos años subsiguientes.

Crimes Against Humanity: Does the Responsibility to Protect Have a Future?

2018 Annual Michael Kirby Justice Oration by Professor the Hon Gareth Evans AC QC, Chancellor of the Australian National University, College of Law and Justice, Victoria University, Melbourne, 26 September 2018