Hypothetically, words can be named by spelling-sound translation rules or by looking up a phonological code in a lexicon. Following J. Baron and C. Strawson (1976), naming performance was measured as a function of skill with each route, using sets of stimuli varying in reliance on either route. "Phoenicians" were defined to be better with rules than with look-up; "Chinese" were better at look-u...

P.F. Strawson proposed in the early seventies a threefold distinction regarding how context bears on the meaning of ‘what is said’ when a sentence is uttered. The proposal was somewhat tentative and, being aware of this aspect, Strawson himself raised various questions to make it more adequate. In this paper, we review Strawson’s scheme, note his concerns, and add some of our own. We also defen...

Strawson and Kant is a collection of articles originally presented at the Kant Society’s 1999 conference, which was dedicated to Strawson. The articles discuss issues related to Strawson’s interpretation of Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, the rise of interest in metaphysics started by Strawson’s Individuals, and key issues in Strawson’s analytic Kantianism. There are also articles in the collec...

The Fauconnier-Ladusaw analysis of negative polarity licensing (that NPIs are licensed in the scope of downward entailing operators) continues to be the benchmark theory of negative polarity. In this paper, I consider some of the moves that are needed to maintain its basic intuition in some recalcitrant arenas: negative polarity licensing by only, adversatives, superlatives, and conditionals. W...

Strawson’s case in favor of panpsychism is at heart an updated version of a venerable form of argument I’ll call the ‘intrinsic nature’ argument. It is an extremely interesting argument which deploys all sorts of high caliber metaphysical weaponry (despite the ‘down home’ appeals to common sense which Strawson frequently makes). The argument is also subtle and intricate. So let’s spend some tim...