Project on Objectification

Abstract: Objectification is sometimes described as an act of making a person into an object. If persons can in fact be made into objects, then what is morally objectionable about treating them as such? This paper describes three ways of conceiving of ‘objectification’, and considers the possibility that descriptions of objectification are also descriptions of a ‘pseudo-agency’. Several ways of thinking about the moral status of the objectified are considered, including a comparison of harms between those deeply degraded by objectification and fully intact agents. A consideration of the status of the objectified as moral patients is also examined.

Please email me if you'd like a copy of this paper. I've omitted the title here since the paper is under review. I've struggled with the claims made in this paper for several years now, unsure how they should be formulated. I've gotten very helpful feedback on this paper but I'm always looking for more.

Book project on Linguistic Reality

Abstract: At the most basic level of linguistic theorizing there are disagreements about the nature of language itself, what a linguistic entity is like, and where to mark the boundaries of those entities. Any set of assumptions about the nature of language drives the structure, methods, and conclusions about linguistic phenomena. This book lays bare these assumptions by theorists of language (philosophers, linguists, psychologists, anthropologists) at various points in history. Although the range in this book is historically broad, it is not meant to be comprehensive. Instead, it reveals argumentative patterns that have implicitly shaped what we take to be possible explanations in linguistic theorizing.

Pt. I has the following sections: 1. Origin Stories, 2. The Idiosyncrasy of Human Linguistic Competence, 3. Empiricism and Rationalism in Linguistic Theory, 4. Realism and Idealism about Linguistic Entities, 5. Language, Dialectic, Idiolect, 6. Speech and Writing, 7. The Inherent Ambiguity of Human Language, 8. Codes and Ostensive Inference

Pt. II has the following sections: 1. Explanation in Linguistics, 2. Semantic Minimalism, 3. Idiolectal Error, 4. Reports, 5. What is (and can be) Meant by Sensitivity to Context