Do We Use Demonstratives Intentionally? Kalbir Sohi In my paper I utilise
an argument made by Jennifer Hornsby to further argue that when we use
demonstratives in speech we are not acting intentionally. I then examine the
effects of this argument for the idea that we have intentions to refer when
we use demonstratives. It is my contention that we can only attribute an
intention of this kind to the psychology of speakers who use demonstratives
if "intention" is used to talk about a subpersonal mental state that is no
different to the type we employ when using other words. As such, any view
which holds that referential intentions determine the reference of
demonstratives (such as that adopted by Susanna Siegel, for instance) will
not do justice to the idea that demonstratives require some intentional
action on the part of the speaker to secure a referent.
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