In “Is semantics possible?” Putnam connected two themes: the very possibility of semantics (as opposed to formal model theory) for natural languages and the proper semantic treatment of common nouns. Putnam observed that abstract semantic accounts are modeled on formal languages model theory: the substantial contribution is rules for logical connectives (given outside the models), whereas the lexicon (individual constants and predicates) is treated merely schematically by the models. This schematic treatment may be all that is needed for an account (...) of validity in a formal setting, but it does not help to understand how proper and common nouns function in reality (not in models). Putnam then initiated the empirical study of such nouns to indicate, (i), that the popular Frege-Carnap account of them as (“disguised” compound) predicates is empirically incorrect, and, (ii), that they offer a new paradigm for a naturalistic semantics of natural languages. We take Putnam’s program a couple of steps further. First, we investigate the semantics of common nouns and argue that they refer (to kinds), rather than apply by satisfaction/truth to a designation/denotation. Second, we point to general results about semantics as a theory whose fulcrum is the reference relation rather than satisfaction in models and validity across them. (shrink)

This article explores the temporal nature of philosophy and the concept of duration (durée) in Henri Bergson's (1859–1941) philosophical methodology. The aim is to examine how time, particularly the concept of duration, is present in Bergson's philosophical approach and his understanding of the nature of philosophy itself. The analysis primarily relies on Bergson's works, including Creative Mind (1934), Mind-Energy (1920), and his 1916 speech delivered at the student residence in Madrid, while utilizing the definition of duration found in Time and (...) Free Will and Duration and Simultaneity. The focus is on the role of duration in Bergson's methodology and the resulting implications for the nature of philosophy. I will exemplify the practical application of the concept of duration with examples, especially from Creative Evolution. (shrink)