Demonstratives (Oxford Readings in Philosophy)

The philosophical elucidation of demonstratives is a task of considerable and wide-ranging significance. These words, like "I", "now", and "this", seem to represent a point of contact between thought and reality. Any account of these must therefore deal with metaphysical issues such as the nature of the "self" and the reality and significance of the present. This collection brings together for the first time an important set of previously published papers, some of which have been slightly altered to suit this volume. They seek to provide the correct semantic account of thoughts involving demonstratives, as well as giving an insight into the metaphysical concepts which lie behind. Philosophers, especially those interested in philosophy of religion, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind and philosophy of science will be interested in this book.