How to Say When. A Reichenbachian Approach to the Answering Machine Puzzle

In Tadeusz Ciecierski & Pawel Grabarczyk (eds.), The Architecture of Context and Context-Sensitivity. Springer. pp. 97-112 (2020)
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Abstract

In this paper, we offer a novel solution to the much discussed " answering machine puzzle " and similarly problematic cases for the Kaplanian view of temporal indexicals. The solution we propose consists in an appeal to a well-established and (for many still) useful framework: Reichenbach's theory of tense and aspect. Starting from some more recent articulations of the theory in its application to temporal adverbials, we show how it can be applied to 'now' so that to provide an easy and intuitive solution to the puzzle. In addition, the proposed solution, while departing in several important respects from the Kaplanian orthodoxy, it remains conservative in that it preserves some of Kaplan's central tenets about 'now', thus making it less radical than many of the alternative solutions found in literature.

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Author Profiles

Dan Zeman
University of Warsaw
Agustin Vicente
University of the Basque Country

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Indexicals in Remote Utterances.Adrian Briciu - 2018 - Philosophia 46 (1):39-55.

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