proceeding

Language Understanding and Knowledge of Meaning

Author

• • Mitchell Green
  • University of Virginia

Abstract

In recent years the view that understanding a language requires knowing what its words and expressions mean has come under attack. One line of attack attempts to show that while knowledge can be undermined by Gettier-style counterexamples, language understanding cannot be. I consider this line of attack, particularly in the work of Pettit (2002) and Longworth (2008), and show it to be unpersuasive. I stress, however, that maintaining a link between language understanding and knowledge does not itself vindicate a cognitivist view of the former.

Keywords:

How to Cite: Green, M. (2009) “Language Understanding and Knowledge of Meaning”, Baltic International Yearbook of Cognition, Logic and Communication. 1(2009). doi: https://doi.org/10.4148/biyclc.v5i0.281