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The Interpretation of the Reference of “Now” in Written Messages: An Experimental View



Author(s)

Yoko Mizuta

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DOI:10.17265/2159-5313/2017.08.008

The semantics of pure indexicals “I,” “here,” and “now” has been discussed in the area of philosophy of language. According to David Kaplan, in face-to-face communication, “I,” “here,” and “now” refer respectively to the agent, the place, and the time of the context of utterance. In recorded and written messages, however, the identification of pure indexical references is nontrivial, given that there is a gap between the time of utterance and that of interpretation. In the literature, four major views are proposed from a philosophical perspective. While these are theoretically competing, no empirical data or pragmatic analyses have been provided. How is the reference of “now” in written messages interpreted? Which views proposed in the literature are supported empirically? This paper investigates these questions from experimental and pragmatic perspectives.

reference, pure indexicals, now, written messages, experimental pragmatics