Rethinking Presuppositions

Book excerpt: This innovative volume proposes an overturning in the study of presuppositions. Beginning with a critical discussion of the most influential approaches, both in linguistics and philosophy, it shows that mainstream debate has not actually studied presuppositions, but rather the means to make presuppositions. In order to overcome this paradox, by relying on systematic and controllable linguistic tests, this text demonstrates that presuppositions trace a curve ranging from natural ontology to the lexicon. At the top of the curve are contents working as presuppositions for the whole human form of life and without the need of any trigger. At the bottom are contents working as presuppositions for the time of a speech act and thanks to some trigger. From this original point of view, this book revisits the classic topics of the debate and offers solid linguistic ground to the elucidation of natural ontology. This makes this volume both challenging and essential reading for researchers and scholars in pragmatics, semantics and philosophy of language.