department of philosophy
university of california, santa barbara

                                office: SH 5432-V
                                phone: 541-285-5212
                                email: rabern@umail.ucsb.edu
                                                               

                                                               

                                                                          

                                                                     

i am interested in language and thought. i've been thinking a lot about methodological problems or meta-issues in these areas, e.g. what is (or should be) the aim of semantic theorizing and the philosophy of language generally? what is (or should be) the aim of the philosophy of thought and cognition? it seems that a lot of disagreements in these areas are actually rooted in certain presuppositions or unarticulated theoretical commitments; what are these? which ones should we accept? what should we be doing exactly?

in this respect i am interested in how different semantic and cognitive theories (or different approaches to language and thought) relate to one another. how do the theoretical commitments of two-dimensionalists, neo-fregeans and other semantic pluralists (or semantic contextualists) relate to the theoretical commitments of direct reference theorists, davidsonians and other semantic minimalists (or semantic invariantists).

aside from these problems i have an ongoing interest in math and logic and a number of metaphysical, epistemological and metaethical questions (e.g. ontology, the mind, the good, and a priori knowledge). i also spend a lot of time thinking about certain paradoxes and puzzles (and some time thinking about water, robot cats, unicorns, and sasquatches). when i am really bored i write "this sentence is false" on unexpected surfaces in an attempt to make the world more paradoxical.

papers:

A simple solution to the hardest logic puzzle ever, Analysis, 68.2, forthcoming, [w/ landon rabern]

works in progress:

Direct reference is a pragmatic phenomenon

Names as common nouns

Millianism and the mind-body problem

works no longer in progress:

Problems and Misinterpretations of Two-Dimensional Semantics [master's thesis, 2004]

Semantic width, privileged access, and the possibility of dry earth

The epistemic profile of names and definte descriptions

Reading Group: Two-Dimensional Semantics

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