3rd Workshop

3rd Nagoya Meta-Philosophy Workshop

Date: 16:30 to 18:00pm, Nov 29, 2018

Venue: Liberal Arts and Sciences Main Building C25, 2nd Floor

"Are the Norms of Assertion Social Norms?"

Peter Graham (University of California, Riverside)

Abstract: This is a talk at the intersection of epistemology, philosophy of language, and social philosophy. A substantial literature asks about the norms governing assertion. In this literature, there are two main questions. First, should we assert that such and such is the case only if we know that such and such is the case? If we assert that such and such, must we defend it against objections? Must we retract our assertion if we cannot defend it? Second, what kind of norm are the norms of assertion? Are they constitutive norms? Are they conventions? Are they prudential or moral? I shall argue that the norms governing assertion are best understood as social norms.