John Benjamins Publishing Company
Theorising context
Abstract
This article challenges the idea that it is possible to produce a theory of context. Such a theory, it is argued, is unintelligible by virtue of the fact that it leaves us with no prior rational concepts with which to make sense of or understand a theory of context. This argument is developed in relation to the treatment of context in clinical pragmatics. The article examines how clinicians and experimentalists examine pragmatic disorders in children and adults. This examination, it is contended, ends up distorting the notion of context that is integral to utterance (pragmatic) interpretation. It is argued that this distortion arises when we mistakenly believe that we can assume a metaphysical standpoint in our deliberations about context.
Abstract
This article challenges the idea that it is possible to produce a theory of context. Such a theory, it is argued, is unintelligible by virtue of the fact that it leaves us with no prior rational concepts with which to make sense of or understand a theory of context. This argument is developed in relation to the treatment of context in clinical pragmatics. The article examines how clinicians and experimentalists examine pragmatic disorders in children and adults. This examination, it is contended, ends up distorting the notion of context that is integral to utterance (pragmatic) interpretation. It is argued that this distortion arises when we mistakenly believe that we can assume a metaphysical standpoint in our deliberations about context.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Linguistic perspectives on context
- What is a context? 9
- Context in neurolinguistics 33
- Theorising context 55
- Context 81
- Contexts in interaction 105
- What’s non-linguistic visual context? 129
-
Part II.Case studies on context
- Emergent contexts 153
- The role of context in interpreting implicit meaning aspects 175
- Contextually enriched argument linking 199
- Modelling context within a constraint-based account of quantifier usage 229
- Subject and name index 251
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Linguistic perspectives on context
- What is a context? 9
- Context in neurolinguistics 33
- Theorising context 55
- Context 81
- Contexts in interaction 105
- What’s non-linguistic visual context? 129
-
Part II.Case studies on context
- Emergent contexts 153
- The role of context in interpreting implicit meaning aspects 175
- Contextually enriched argument linking 199
- Modelling context within a constraint-based account of quantifier usage 229
- Subject and name index 251
