Vagueness is currently the subject of vigorous debate in the philosophy of logic and language. Vague terms-such as "tall", "red", "bald", and "tadpole" - have borderline cases (arguably, someone may be neither tall nor not tall); and they lack well-defined extensions (there is no sharp boundary between tall people and the rest). The phenomenon of vagueness poses a fundamental challenge to classical logic and semantics, which assumes that propositions are either true or false and that extensions are determinate. Another striking problem to which vagueness gives rise is the sorites paradox. If you remove one grain from a heap of sand, surely you must be left with a heap. Yet apply this principle repeatedly as you remove grains one by one, and you end up, absurdly, with a solitary grain that counts as a heap. This anthology collects papers in the field. After an introduction that surveys the field, the essays form four groups, starting with some historically notable pieces. The 1970s saw an explosion of interest in vagueness, and the second group of essays reprints classic papers from this period.
The following group of papers represent current work on the logic and semantics of vagueness. The essays in the final group are contributions to the continuing debate about vague objects and vague identity.
Vagueness is currently the subject of vigorous debate in the philosophy of logic and language. Vague terms-such as "tall", "red", "bald", and "tadpole" - have borderline cases (arguably, someone may be neither tall nor not tall); and they lack well-defined extensions (there is no sharp boundary between tall people and the rest). The phenomenon of vagueness poses a fundamental challenge to classical logic and semantics, which assumes that propositions are either true or false and that extensions are determinate. Another striking problem to which vagueness gives rise is the sorites paradox. If you remove one grain from a heap of sand, surely you must be left with a heap. Yet apply this principle repeatedly as you remove grains one by one, and you end up, absurdly, with a solitary grain that counts as a heap. This anthology collects papers in the field. After an introduction that surveys the field, the essays form four groups, starting with some historically notable pieces. The 1970s saw an explosion of interest in vagueness, and the second group of essays reprints classic papers from this period.
The following group of papers represent current work on the logic and semantics of vagueness. The essays in the final group are contributions to the continuing debate about vague objects and vague identity.
Introduction - Theories of vagueness, Rosanna Keefe, Peter Smith; On the sorites, Diogenes Laertius, Galen and Cicero; Vagueness, Bertrand Russell; Vagueness - an exercise in logical analysis, Max Black; Vagueness and logic, Carl G. Hempel; Truth and vagueness, Henryk Mehlberg; The sorites paradox, James Cargile; Wang's paradox, Michael Dummett; Vagueness, truth and logic, Kit Fine; Language-mastery and the sorites paradox, Crispin Wright; Truth, belief and vagueness, Kenton F. Machina; Further reflections on the sorites paradox, Crispin Wright; Concepts without boundaries, R.M. Sainsbury; Vagueness and ignorance, Timothy Williamson, Sorites paradoxes and the semantics of vagueness, Michael Tye; Vagueness by degrees, Dorothy Edington; Can there be vague objects? Gareth Evans; Vague identity - Evans misunderstood, David Lewis; Worldly indeterminacy of identity, Terence Parsons, Peter Woodruff.
Anyone who has the vague sense that they ought to know more about vagueness (potentially anyone working in logic, metaphysics, semantics or the philosophy of language) will find that this collection can definitely bring them up to speed (and then some). The collection seamlessly connects contemporary research with the historical problem of vagueness. Best of all, Keefe and Smith have provided an excellent introduction which his itself worth the price of the book. The resulting collection is an indispensable resource for anyone working in the core areas of philosophy. -- Peter Ludlow, Associate Professor of Philosophy, SUNY Stony Brook This volume contains a well-chosen sample of the best work on vagueness in recent years. It also contains new work of the highest quality. -- Graeme Forbes, Celia Scott Weatherhead Distinguished Professor, Tulane University A timeless collection of classic and recent writings on vagueness, with a very useful introductory overview essay by the editors. The book is an invaluable reference work, and is very well suited as a reader in courses on vagueness. -- Terry Horgan, Professor Philosophy, University of Memphis This timeless anthology provides an inviting first step to anyone interested in the sorites paradox. The issues are developed with an agreeable blend of logic and history. Each step of the dialectic is followed by a yet more interesting step. Consequently, even veterans of vagueness will marvel at how the editors have compressed so much wisdom into only finitely many pages. -- Roy A. Sorensen, Professor of Philosophy, NYU
Rosanna Keefe is a Research Fellow at Jesus College, Cambridge
University
Peter Smith is a member of the Faculty of Philosophy at the
University of Cambridge.
This balanced and comprehensive collection will be a standard
reference for many years to come.
*Computational Linguistics*
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