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    The character of a demonstrative is a rule that maps cont... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→Demonstratively identified individuals are directly referred to, not identified in virtue of qualities the agent uses to conceive the object

    The character of a demonstrative is a rule that maps contextual qualitative features to referents, making description-independence illusory.

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    1 reason for
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    Reasons For

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    Reason for
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    • 1.Demonstratives like 'this' succeed in reference by exploiting contextual features (gesture, salience, proximity), not by descriptive content alone.
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    • 2.Two contexts with identical qualitative descriptions can fix different referents via demonstrative use, showing description underdetermines reference.
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    • 3.The character of a demonstrative must be a rule mapping context to referent; otherwise demonstratives lack systematic meaning across uses.
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    Reasons Against

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    • 1.Demonstratives can function without any contextual feature mapping if direct causal-perceptual contact with objects grounds reference directly.
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    • 2.Even if character maps qualitative features to referents, this doesn't render description-independence illusory—it just explains how context grounds reference.
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    • 3.The claim conflates two issues: how demonstratives work (via context) with whether descriptive content is essential to their meaning (a separate question).
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    Philosophy of Language1 linked

    Related

    Demonstratively identified individuals are directly referred to, not identified ...Demonstratives can function without any contextual feature mapping if direct cau...Demonstratives like 'this' succeed in reference by exploiting contextual feature...Even if character maps qualitative features to referents, this doesn't render de...
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    The character of a demonstrative must be a rule mapping context to referent; oth...The claim conflates two issues: how demonstratives work (via context) with wheth...Two contexts with identical qualitative descriptions can fix different referents...

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