Ondřej Beran - From Rules to Meanings: New Essays on Inferentialism

Inferentialism is a philosophical approach premised on the claim that an item of language (or thought) acquires meaning (or content) in virtue of being embedded in an intricate set of social practices normatively governed by a special sort of rulesinferential rules. Over the last two decades, inferentialism has established itself as one of the leading research programs in the philosophy of language and also, increasingly, in the philosophy of logic. Though it has grown into a vigorous and ramified branch of philosophical thinking, contemporary inferentialism is only rarely presented in a more systematic and comprehensive manner that explores its diversity. The book fills this lacuna by bringing together new essays on inferentialism that develop, compare, and assess, but also critically react to some of the most pertinent recent trends that would appeal to a wider philosophical readership. Its core chapters have been written by distinguished philosophers contributing to the research in the field.

Ondej Beran is a researcher, currently based at the Centre for Ethics (University of Pardubice). His publications, ongoing work, and areas of research interest include the philosophy of language, ethics, the philosophy of religion, and feminist philosophy. He is the author of the book Living with Rules (Peter Lang) and research articles in international journals (Sophia and Ethical Perspectives).

Vojtch Kolman is Associate Professor of Logic at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague. His research focuses mainly on themes from the philosophy of mathematics, the history of logic, pragmatism, and the philosophy of the arts. He is author of the book Zahlen (de Gruyter) and numerous articles in international journals (Synthese, Erkenntnis, Hegel-Bulletin, Allgemeine Zeitschrift fr Philosophie, and others).

Ladislav Kore is the Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences at the University of Hradec Krlov and a researcher at the Czech Academy of Sciences. His areas of interest include epistemology, philosophy of language, philosophy of logic, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of social sciences. His publications include research articles in international journals (Synthese, Journal of Social Ontology) and Volumes (Routledge).

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Taking the Measure of Autonomy

A Four-Dimensional Theory of Self-Governance

Suzy Killmister

The Legacy of Kant in Sellars and Meillassoux

Analytic and Continental Kantianism

Edited by Fabio Gironi

Subjectivity and the Political

Contemporary Perspectives

Edited by Gavin Rae and Emma Ingala

Aspect Perception after Wittgenstein

Seeing-As and Novelty

Edited by Michael Beaney, Brendan Harrington and Dominic Shaw

Nature and Normativity

Biology, Teleology, and Meaning

Mark Okrent

Formal Epistemology and Cartesian Skepticism

In Defense of Belief in the Natural World

Tomoji Shogenji

Epistemic Rationality and Epistemic Normativity

Patrick Bondy

From Rules to Meanings

New Essays on Inferentialism

Edited by Ondej Beran, Vojtch Kolman, and Ladislav Kore

For a full list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com

Edited by Ondej Beran,
Vojtch Kolman, and Ladislav Kore

First published 2018

by Routledge

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Beran, Ondej, editor.

Title: From rules to meanings : new essays on inferentialism / edited by Ondej Beran, Vojtech Kolman, and Ladislav Koren.

Description: 1 [edition]. | New York : Routledge, 2017. | Series: Routledge studies in contemporary philosophy ; 103 | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017044429 | ISBN 9781138102613 (hardback : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Meaning (Philosophy) | Inference.

Classification: LCC B105.M4 F76 2017 | DDC 121/.68dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017044429

ISBN: 978-1-138-10261-3 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-1-315-10358-7 (ebk)

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This volume was put together as a follow-up to the Prague workshop Why Rules Matter that discussed Jaroslav Peregrins book Inferentialism, marking a new phase in the inferentialist discussions, and with the aim to celebrate Jaroslav Peregrins 60th anniversary.