A Mental Spaces Analysis of the Answering Machine Paradox: The Agent of the Context of Utterance Revisited = A Mental Spaces Analysis of the Answering Machine Paradox: The Agent of the Context of Utterance Revisited

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Kaplan (1989a) claims that sentence P (I am here now) is logically true - i.e. true in every context of utterance. Its negation ~P (I am not here now) would then be logically false. Vision (1985), however, argued that ~P uttered in a voice message apparently stands for a true proposition. In the literature, this puzzle is called the Answering Machine Paradox (AMP) and has received the continuous attention of philosophers. Some scholars identify the reference of ‘I’ in the recording context. Others argue that the reference of ‘I’ is determined by elements such as the speaker’s intention, the linguistically competent and attentive audience, and the convention in which an answering machine is used. In any case, previous works hold, just like Kaplan, that the agent of ~P (and P) should be an individual and therefore that there is no agent in the playback context. In this position, the case of AMP would then be dismissed as an ‘improper utterance’, which goes beyond the scope of Kaplan’s theory. This paper provides a novel analysis of this philosophical issue from a cognitive scientific perspective, using the mental spaces framework. AMP is explained in two steps. The key proposal made in the first step is to introduce the agent of the utterance with one’s logical identity but without his/her physical identity (Agent_log). This notion of Agent_log is given a theoretical basis in terms of a cognitive blend of mental spaces. In the second step, the voice message involves a pragmatic mapping from the Agent_log to a relevant individual, who is the ultimate reference of ‘I’. The apparent puzzle in question is attributed to Kaplan’s empirical assumption that the agent should be an individual, as in a face-to face communication. With the introduction of the notion of Agent_log, a wider range of messages can be accommodated as proper utterances and Kaplan’s theory of indexicals is essentially defended.

참고문헌 (Reference)

1 Corazza, E. Fish, W., "Who is I?" 107 : 1-21, 2002

2 Stevens, G, "Utterance at a distance" 143 : 213-221, 2008

3 Kaplan, D., "Themes from Kaplan" Oxford University Press 481-563, 1989

4 Kaplan, D., "Themes from Kaplan" Oxford University Press 565-614, 1989

5 Nunberg, G., "The pragmatics of reference" Indiana University Linguistic Club 1978

6 Mount. A, "The impurity of “pure” indexicals" 138 : 193-209, 2008

7 Sidelle, N, "The answering machine paradox" 21 : 525-539, 1991

8 Rubba, J., "Spaces, Worlds and Grammar" University of Chicago Press 227-261, 1996

9 Michaelson, E, "Shifty characters" 167 : 519-540, 2014

10 McCawley, J. D, "Participant roles, frames, and speech acts" 22 : 595-619, 1999

11 Predelli, S, "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today" 56 : 85-91, 1996

12 Fauconnier, G., "Mental Spaces" Cambridge University Press 1994

13 Fauconnier, G., "Mappings in Thought and Language" Cambridge University Press 1997

14 Predelli, S, "Intentions, indexicals, and communication" 62 : 310-316, 2002

15 Åkerman, J, "Indexicals and reference-shifting: towards a pragmatic approach" 12216-, 2015

16 Nunberg, G, "Indexicality and dexis" 16 : 1-43, 1993

17 Cohen, J, "Indexicality and The Puzzle of the Answering Machine" 110 : 5-32, 2013

18 Cohen, J., "Indexicality and The Answering Machine Paradox" 8 : 580-592, 2013

19 Romdenh-Romluc, K., "I. Philosophical Studies" 128 : 257-283, 2006

20 Predelli, S, "I am still not here now" 74 : 289-303, 2011

21 Predelli, S, "I am not here now" 58 : 107-115, 1998

22 Vision, G, "I am here now" 45 : 198-199, 1985

23 Bianchi, C, "How to do with (recorded) words" 167 : 485-495, 2014

24 Austin, J., "How to do things with words" Harvard University Press 1975

25 Simpson, P, "Here and now" 47 : 61-62, 1987

26 Colterjohn, J., "Gerald Vision and indexicals" 47 : 58-60, 1987

27 Goffman, E., "Forms of talk" University of Pennsylvania Press 1981

28 Voltolini, A, "Fiction as a base of interpretation contexts" 153 : 123-147, 2006

29 Whitsey, M., "Discourse context and indexicality" Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science 2680 356-386, 2003

30 Turner, M., "Conceptual integration and formal expression" 10 : 183-204, 1995

31 Veale, T., "Computation for Metaphors, Analogy, and Agents" Springer 37-51, 1999

32 Hiraga, M, "Blending and an interpretation of haiku: a cognitive approach" 20 : 461-481, 1999

33 Vision, G, "Antiphon" 47 : 124-128, 1987