Frank Jackson (ANU): Language, Information, Two-dimensionalism
The philosophy of mind was transformed for the better by the challenge of explaining how mental states could be states of complex physical structures interacting with their surroundings, in a wide sense of 'physical' (wide enough, in fact, to be acceptable to some who badge themselves as dualists). Mutatis muntandis for the philosophy of language. In the latter case, the challenge is to understand how words from the mouths of complex physical structures can carry information about the world we occupy. When we perform this exercise, two-dimensionalism drops out without the need to engage in, e. g., the debate over the necessary a posteriori.
Location
Coombs Seminar Room 1.13