Project Description

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RESEARCH AREAS:

  • Philosophy of Cognitive Science

  • Theoretical and Clinical Linguistics

  • History of Philosophy

CONTACT:

ROBERT STAINTON

PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology;
Distinguished Professor, Department of Philosophy, Western University

Robert Stainton is Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Philosophy and in the Graduate Program in Linguistics at Western Ontario. He first studied linguistics and philosophy at Glendon College of York University, and then pursued his PhD at MIT. His first academic job was as Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Science at Carleton University in Ottawa. He moved to Western in 2004. He was elected to the Royal Society of Canada in 2012.

Most of Stainton’s work involves either applying philosophical techniques to issues in contemporary theoretical and clinical linguistics, or using tools and evidence from the latter fields to explore philosophical issues about language and cognition. Stainton also dabbles in the history of philosophy of language, including both history of 20th C analytic (e.g., Russell, Anscombe, Davidson) but also the history of theorizing about language going all the way back to the Ancient Greeks.        He fishes – a lot.

[Notes: In every case of co-authored publication other than edited volume B12 below, I contributed at least 50%. In the case of B12, I contributed approximately 25% of the work.]

BOOKS PUBLISHED (Title, Publisher, Place and Date of Publication, Number of Pages):

Books Authored

  1. Words and Thoughts. Oxford University Press, Oxford: 2006. [248 pp.]

(Paperback edition, with corrections: 2009.)

  1. Knowledge and Mind. (With J. Andrew Brook). The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA: 2000. [253 pp.]

(Paperback edition: 2001.)

  1. Philosophical Perspectives on Language. Broadview Press, Peterborough, ON: 1996. [239 pp.]

Books edited

  1. Varieties of Context-Sensitivity in a Pluri-Propositional Reflexive Semantic Framework. (Co-edited with Arthur Sullivan). Special Issue of Disputatio: 2022. [325 pp.]
  2. Discourse, Structure and Linguistic Choice: The Theory and Applications of Molecular Sememics by T. Price Caldwell. (Co-edited with Oliver Cresswell). Springer, Dordrecht: 2018. [134 pp.]
  3. Sourcebook in the History of Philosophy of Language: Primary Source Texts from the Pre-Socratics to Mill. (Co-edited with Margaret Cameron and Benjamin Hill). Springer, Dordrecht: 2017. [1102 pp.]
  4. Linguistic Content: New Essays on the History of Philosophy of Language. (Co-edited with Margaret Cameron). Oxford University Press, Oxford: 2015. [288 pp.]
  5. The Semantics-Pragmatics Boundary in Philosophy. (Co-edited with Maite Ezcurdia). Broadview, Peterborough, ON: 2013. [554 pp.]
  6. Concise Encyclopedia of Philosophy of Language and Linguistics. (Co-edited with Alex Barber). Elsevier, Oxford: 2010. [836 pp.]
  7. Philosophy and Death: Introductory Readings. (Co-edited with Samantha Brennan) Broadview, Peterborough, ON: 2010. [398 pp.]
  8. Michael Gregory’s Proposals for a Communication Linguistics. (Co-edited with Jessica de Villiers). Volume Two of Communication in Linguistics. Editions du GREF, Toronto: 2009. [340 pp.]
  9. Compositionality, Context and Semantic Values: Essays in Honour of Ernie Lepore. (Co-edited with Christopher Viger) Springer, Dordrecht: 2009. [281 pp.]
  10. The Achilles of Rationalist Psychology. (Co-edited with Thomas M. Lennon). Springer, Dordrecht: 2008. [289 pp.]
  11. Contemporary Debates in Cognitive Science. Blackwell, Oxford: 2006. [339 pp.]
[Chinese translation by Xiaoai Yang, China Science Publishing, 2015]
  1. Ellipsis and Non-Sentential Speech. (Co-edited with Reinaldo Elugardo) Springer, Dordrecht: 2005. [262 pp.]
  2. New Essays in Philosophy of Language and Mind (Co-edited with Maite Ezcurdia & Christopher Viger) Canadian Journal of Philosophy Supplementary Volume 30. University of Calgary Press, Calgary: 2004. [449 pp.]
  3. Papers in Honour of Michael Gregory. (Co-edited with Jessica de Villiers) Volume One of Communication in Linguistics. Editions du GREF, Toronto: 2001. [395 pp.]
  4. Perspectives in the Philosophy of Language: A Concise Anthology. Broadview Press, Peterborough, ON: 2000. [352 pp.]
  5. Philosophy and Linguistics. (Co-edited with Kumiko Murasugi) Westview Press, Boulder, CO: 1999. [285 pp.]

Volumes of Working Papers

  1. Discourse in a Bilingual Setting: Working Papers at LE CAMP. Volume 2. Toronto: Applied Linguistics Research Working Group (ALRWG), Glendon College of York University, 1992.
  2. A LE CAMP Sourcebook. Volume 2. Toronto: Applied Linguistics Research Working Group (ALRWG), Glendon College of York University, 1991.
  3. A LE CAMP Sourcebook. Volume 1. (Co-edited with Alisa Hillier) Toronto: Applied Linguistics Research Working Group (ALRWG), Glendon College of York University, 1990.
  4. Discourse in a Bilingual Setting: Working Papers at LE CAMP. Volume 1. Toronto: Applied Linguistics Research Working Group (ALRWG), Glendon College of York University, 1989.

ARTICLES PUBLISHED:

Chapters in Edited Books (Title, Volume, Place, Publisher and Date of Publication, Page Numbers)

  1. Do Languages Really Exist? (With Chris Viger) In U. Stojnic and E. Lepore (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Language, 2nd Oxford University Press, pp. 3-23.
  2. (With Arthur Sullivan) In R. Stainton and A. Sullivan (eds.) Varieties of Context-Sensitivity in a Pluri-Propositional Reflexive Semantic Framework. Special issue of Disputatio, 2022, pp. 194-204.
  3. Linguistic Prescriptivism. (With Alex Barber) In J. Khoo and R. Sterken (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Social and Political Philosophy of Language, 2021, pp. 56-69.
  4. Quasi-Factives and Cognitive Efficiency. (With Axel Barceló) In K. Scott, B. Clark and R. Carston (eds.) Relevance Theory: Pragmatics and Interpretation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019, pp. 53-65.
  5. Two Questions about Interpretive Effects. (With Chris Viger) In G. Preyer (ed.) Semantics, Pragmatics and Interpretation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018, pp. 9-31.
  6. In T. Price Caldwell Discourse, Structure and Linguistic Choice. Edited posthumously by O. Cresswell and R. Stainton. Dordrecht: Springer, 2018, pp. xv-xxxii.
  7. Contextualism in Epistemology and Relevance Theory. (With Mark Jary) In Jonathan Jenkins Ichikawa (ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Epistemic Contextualism. London: Routledge, 2017, pp. 480-492.
  8. Verbing and Nouning. (With Grace Gomashie) In T.K. Shackelford and V.A. Weekes-Shackelford (eds.) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Dordrecht: Springer, 2016, pp. 1-5. [Living reference work entry: https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-3-319-16999-6_3329-1]
  9. (With Margaret Cameron) In M. Cameron and R.J. Stainton (eds.) Linguistic Content: New Essays on the History of Philosophy of Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015, pp. 1-15.
  10. La Psicología de la Justificación. (With Ángeles Eraña) In Patricia King, Juan González and Eduardo González de Luna (eds.) Ciencias Cognitivas y Filosofía: Entre la Cooperación y la Integración. Mexico City: Editorial MA Porrúa, 2014, pp. 181-199.
  11. Philosophy of Linguistics. In S. Goldberg (ed.) Oxford Handbooks Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.
  12. (With Maite Ezcurdia) In M. Ezcurdia and R. Stainton (eds.) The Semantics-Pragmatics Boundary in Philosophy. Broadview, Peterborough, 2013, pp. xiii-xxxiv.
  13. The Role of Psychology in the Philosophy of Language. In D. Graff Fara and G. Russell (eds.) Routledge Companion to the Philosophy of Language. London: Routledge, 2012, pp. 525-532.
  14. Differential Pragmatic Abilities and Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Case of Pragmatic Determinants of Literal Content. (With Jessica de Villiers and Brooke Myers) In M. Macaulay and Garcés-Blitvich (eds.) Pragmatics and Context. Toronto: Antares, 2012, pp. 21-42.
  15. Identity through Change and Substitutivity Salva Veritate. (With Reinaldo Elugardo) In M. O’Rourke et al. Time and Identity. Topics in Contemporary Philosophy, Vol. 6. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2010, pp. 113-128.
  16. Philosophy of Language. In L. Cummings (ed.) The Pragmatics Encyclopedia. London: Routledge, 2010, pp. 348-353.
[Turkish translation by Mustafa Yesil: “Dil Felsefesi”. Ilahiyat Fakultesi Dergisi Vol. 20(1), 2015, pp. 165-175.]
  1. Contextualism in Epistemology and the Context Sensitivity of ‘Knows’. In J.C. Campbell, M. O’Rourke and H. Silverstein (eds.) Knowledge and Skepticism. Topics in Contemporary Philosophy, Vol. 5. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2010, pp. 113-139.
  2. (With Thomas M. Lennon) In T.M. Lennon and R.J. Stainton (eds.) The Achilles of Rationalist Psychology. Dordrecht: Springer, 2008, pp. 1-18.
  3. Pragmatic Abilities in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Case Study in Philosophy and the Empirical. (With Jessica de Villiers and Peter Szatmari) In P.A. French and H.K. Wettstein (eds.) Philosophy and the Empirical. Volume XXXI of Midwest Studies in Philosophy. Oxford: Blackwell, 2007, pp. 292-317.
  4. On Restricting the Evidence Base for Linguistics. (With Corinne Iten and Catherine Wearing) In P. Thagard (ed.) Philosophy of Psychology. Volume 12 of Handbook of the Philosophy of Science. Oxford: Elsevier, 2006, pp. 219-246.
  5. Neither Fragments nor Ellipsis. In L. Progovac et al. (eds.) The Syntax of Nonsententials: Multidisciplinary Perspectives. Linguistics Today Series. Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2006, 93-116.
  6. Meaning and Reference: Some Chomskyan Themes. In E. Lepore & B. Smith (eds.), Handbook of Philosophy of Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006, pp. 913-940.
  7. Really Intriguing, that Pred NP! (With Ileana Paul) In Radisic & C. Gurski (eds.) CLA Annual Conference Proceedings/Actes du congrès de l’ACL, 2006, pp. 1-10.
  8. Grice, Herbert Paul (1913-88). In J. Shook (ed.) Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers. Bristol: Thoemmes Press, 2005, pp. 983-988.
  9. Null Complements: Licensed by Syntax or by Semantics-Pragmatics? (With Corinne Iten, Marie-Odile Junker, Aryn Pyke, and Catherine Wearing) In Marie-Odile Junker, Martha McGinnis and Yves Roberge (eds.) CLA Annual Conference Proceedings/Actes du congrès de l’ACL, 2005, pp. 1-15.
  10. (With Reinaldo Elugardo) In R. Elugardo & R. Stainton (eds.) Ellipsis and Non-Sentential Speech. Dordrecht: Springer, 2005, pp. 1-26.
  11. In Defense of Non-Sentential Assertion. In Z. Szabo (ed.) Semantics vs. Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005, pp. 383-457.
  12. Metaphysics, Substitution Salva Veritate and the Slingshot Argument. In K. Brown (ed.) Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 2nd Oxford: Elsevier, 2005, Vol. 8, pp. 73-82.
  13. Objects, Properties and Functions. In K. Brown (ed.) Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 2nd Oxford: Elsevier, 2005, Vol. 9, pp. 5-14.
  14. The Context Principle. In K. Brown (ed.) Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 2nd Oxford: Elsevier, 2005, Vol. 3, pp. 108-115.
  15. (With Maite Ezcurdia and Christopher Viger) In M. Ezcurdia, R. Stainton & C. Viger (eds.) New Essays in Philosophy of Language and Mind. Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2004, pp. vii-xiii.
  16. Quantifier Phrases, Meaningfulness “in isolation”, and Ellipsis. In S. Davis and B. Gillon (eds.) Semantics: A Reader. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004, pp. 846-865. [Anthology reprint of a 1998 article, below.]
  17. The Pragmatics of Non-Sentences. In L. Horn & G. Ward (eds.) Handbook of Pragmatics. Oxford: Blackwell, 2004, pp. 266-287.
  18. Grasping Objects and Contents. (With Reinaldo Elugardo) In A. Barber (ed.) Epistemology of Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003, pp. 257-302.
  19. Varieties of Empiricism. (With David Matheson) In Y. Bouchard (ed.) Perspectives on Coherentism. Aylmer, Quebec: Éditions du Scribe, 2002, pp. 99-113.
  20. “Obviously Propositions are Nothing…”: Russell and the Logical Form of Belief Reports. (With Lenny Clapp) In G. Preyer & G. Peter (eds.) Logical Form and Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002, pp. 409-420.
  21. Communicative Events as Evidence in Linguistics. In J. de Villiers & R.J. Stainton (eds.) Papers in Honour of Michael Gregory. Volume One of Communication in Linguistics. Toronto: Editions du GREF, 2001, pp. 329-346.
  22. Remarks on the Syntax and Semantic of Mixed Quotation. In K. Murasugi & R.J. Stainton (eds.) Philosophy and Linguistics. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1999, pp. 259-278.
  23. Fodor’s New Theory of Computation and Information (With J. Andrew Brook) In G.W. Cottrell (ed.) Proceedings of the Eighteenth Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1996, pp. 86-91.

Faculty Research Domains

Rotman Institute faculty members are listed below by shared research areas. Visit individual member profiles to learn more.