Rethinking Language, Mind, and Meaning

"This is a very significant and original contribution to the philosophy of language, centering on a new way of thinking about propositions. Previous authors have treated propositions as abstract entities that speakers and hearers are aware of and that constitute the meanings or contents of sentences. But Soames argues persuasively that propositions are best thought of as things people do. In developing this idea, he shows how his proposal solves significant difficulties in the philosophy of language. This book will make a huge impact on the subject."--Gilbert Harman, Princeton University"This is a brilliant book and it will be extremely influential. It lays out Soames's important theory of propositions, and significantly extends that theory to solve central problems in the foundations of the study of mind and language. Soames has gone further than anyone else in trying to use a theory of the metaphysics of propositions to illuminate issues in the theory of content."--Jeff Speaks, University of Notre Dame