Robert Maximilian de Gaynesford
Encyclopedia
Maximilian de Gaynesford (born 1968, London) is an English philosopher. He was educated at Ampleforth College
and Balliol College, Oxford
(1986-9; First in Modern History), after which he spent several years studying Theology, before turning to Philosophy in 1993. Before receiving his doctorate, he was elected Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy at Lincoln College, Oxford
(1997). He was subsequently Humboldt Research Fellow at the Freie Universität Berlin (2003) and a tenured professor at The College of William and Mary in Virginia (2002–2006) before becoming Professor of Philosophy at the University of Reading
. He is the author of over forty articles and three books: I: The Meaning of the First Person Term (2006), Hilary Putnam (2006), and John McDowell (2004). In 2011, he edited a collection of articles on the Philosophy of Action, Agents And Their Actions (Blackwell), which includes recent work by John McDowell
and Joseph Raz
.
is a so-called Pure Indexical, arguing that it is a deictic
term, and hence like the other singular personal pronouns (You
; He
/ She
).
The established view, so the book argues, depends on three mutually supportive doctrines which turn out to be myths:
The radically new account of I (as a deictic term) depends on various kinds of evidence:
This account has a major bearing on other areas of research: the meaning of I is used to elucidate the thoughts expressed by the term, and so helps account for difficult and controversial features of self-knowledge, practical reasoning, belief-acquisition, and belief-ascription.
work (Hilary Putnam, McGill-Queens University Press / Acumen, 2006), achieved through repeated engagements with a small set of hard problems, all of which stem from the need to account for the intentionality
of thought and language.
view that treating our fundamental relations with the world as problematic is a deep mistake, attributable to false views about nature, and that we should give proper weight to a natural fact about the world: that human beings are of a kind that is naturally placed within the natural order.
Ampleforth College
Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire, England, is the largest Roman Catholic co-educational boarding independent school in the United Kingdom. It opened in 1802, as a boys' school, and is run by the Benedictine monks and lay staff of Ampleforth Abbey...
and Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
(1986-9; First in Modern History), after which he spent several years studying Theology, before turning to Philosophy in 1993. Before receiving his doctorate, he was elected Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy at Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is situated on Turl Street in central Oxford, backing onto Brasenose College and adjacent to Exeter College...
(1997). He was subsequently Humboldt Research Fellow at the Freie Universität Berlin (2003) and a tenured professor at The College of William and Mary in Virginia (2002–2006) before becoming Professor of Philosophy at the University of Reading
University of Reading
The University of Reading is a university in the English town of Reading, Berkshire. The University was established in 1892 as University College, Reading and received its Royal Charter in 1926. It is based on several campuses in, and around, the town of Reading.The University has a long tradition...
. He is the author of over forty articles and three books: I: The Meaning of the First Person Term (2006), Hilary Putnam (2006), and John McDowell (2004). In 2011, he edited a collection of articles on the Philosophy of Action, Agents And Their Actions (Blackwell), which includes recent work by John McDowell
John McDowell
John Henry McDowell is a South African philosopher, formerly a fellow of University College, Oxford and now University Professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Although he has written extensively on metaphysics, epistemology, ancient philosophy, and meta-ethics, McDowell's most influential work...
and Joseph Raz
Joseph Raz
Joseph Raz is a legal, moral and political philosopher. He is one of the most prominent advocates of legal positivism. He has spent most of his career as professor of philosophy of law and a fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, and simultaneously as professor of law at Columbia University Law...
.
Recent Work
- On J. L. Austin's doctrine of 'Uptake': Speech, Action and Uptake in Agents And Their Actions (Blackwell, 2011) ed. M. de Gaynesford, pp. 121-37.
- On the notorious comments made by J. L. Austin about Poetry: How Not To Do Things With Words in The British Journal of Aesthetics, 2011, 51, pp. 31-49.
- On the extension of a theory of speech acts to cover poetic utterance: Speech Acts and Poetry in Analysis, 2010, 70, pp. 1-3.
- On the relationship between Philosophy and Poetry: The Seriousness of Poetry in Essays in Criticism, 2009, 59, pp. 1–21.
- On the use of Speech Act Theory to justify intervention in the publication and distribution of pornography: Illocutionary acts, Subordination, and Silencing in Analysis, 2009, 69, pp. 488-90.
I: The Meaning of the First Person Term
The book I: The Meaning of the First Person Term (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2006) rejects the established view that II (pronoun)
I is the first-person singular subjective case personal pronoun in Modern English. It is used to refer to one's self and is capitalised, although other pronouns, such as he or she, are not capitalised.-Etymology:...
is a so-called Pure Indexical, arguing that it is a deictic
Deixis
In linguistics, deixis refers to the phenomenon wherein understanding the meaning of certain words and phrases in an utterance requires contextual information. Words are deictic if their semantic meaning is fixed but their denotational meaning varies depending on time and/or place...
term, and hence like the other singular personal pronouns (You
You
You is the second-personpersonal pronoun, both singular and plural, and both nominative and objective case, in Modern English. The oblique/objective form you functioned originally as both accusative and dative)...
; He
He
He is a third-person, singular personal pronoun in Modern English, as well as being a personal pronoun in Middle English.-Animals:...
/ She
She
She is the third person singular, feminine, nominative case pronoun in modern English.She can also may refer to:-Literature and film:* She: A History of Adventure, a novel by H...
).
The established view, so the book argues, depends on three mutually supportive doctrines which turn out to be myths:
- Rule Theory: A simple rule is sufficient to give the meaning of I.
- Independence: One can use I to express thoughts without having to identify what is being referred to.
- The Guarantee: The meaning of I logically guarantees any use of the term against failure to refer.
The radically new account of I (as a deictic term) depends on various kinds of evidence:
- Logical Character: The substitutional behaviour of I-use is that of an obligatorily deictic term.
- Inferential Role: The inferential behaviour of I-use is that of an obligatorily deictic term.
- Referential Function: The referential determinacy of I-use is deictic: it depends on making an individual salient.
- Expressive Use: The discriminability of I-use for the reference-maker is deictic: it depends on the referent's salience.
- Communicative Role: The discriminability of I-use for the audience is deictic: it depends on the referent's salience.
This account has a major bearing on other areas of research: the meaning of I is used to elucidate the thoughts expressed by the term, and so helps account for difficult and controversial features of self-knowledge, practical reasoning, belief-acquisition, and belief-ascription.
Hilary Putnam
A critical evaluation which reveals a basic unity in Putnam’sHilary Putnam
Hilary Whitehall Putnam is an American philosopher, mathematician and computer scientist, who has been a central figure in analytic philosophy since the 1960s, especially in philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, philosophy of mathematics, and philosophy of science...
work (Hilary Putnam, McGill-Queens University Press / Acumen, 2006), achieved through repeated engagements with a small set of hard problems, all of which stem from the need to account for the intentionality
Intentionality
The term intentionality was introduced by Jeremy Bentham as a principle of utility in his doctrine of consciousness for the purpose of distinguishing acts that are intentional and acts that are not...
of thought and language.
John McDowell
A study (John McDowell, Blackwell / Polity Press, 2004) of McDowell'sJohn McDowell
John Henry McDowell is a South African philosopher, formerly a fellow of University College, Oxford and now University Professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Although he has written extensively on metaphysics, epistemology, ancient philosophy, and meta-ethics, McDowell's most influential work...
view that treating our fundamental relations with the world as problematic is a deep mistake, attributable to false views about nature, and that we should give proper weight to a natural fact about the world: that human beings are of a kind that is naturally placed within the natural order.