inferentialism
- noun
- /ˌɪnfəˈrɛnʃəlɪzəm/
- Specialized
- The concept of inferentialism emphasizes that the meaning of language arises from the relationships between statements.
Examples
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This kind of "abductive explanatory inferentialism" suggests that the theory of the scientific method is centrally concerned with generating theories in a "backward" sense.
Academic text (2010) -
For an attempt to show that Hart espoused a similar sort of semantic inferentialism by examining his theory of rights, vid. Tschorne 2014.
Academic text (2018) -
Many scholars explore how inferentialism influences our understanding of meaning and discourse in philosophy.
-
In inferentialism, a statement's validity is determined by its connections to other statements rather than by empirical evidence.
Surface Forms
Morphology
inferentialism = inferential (semi-transparent) = infer + ential + ism
The word is built transparently from 'inferential' plus '-ism', but the philosophical sense is somewhat specialized and not fully predictable for all learners.
Etymology
Inferentialism starts with infer (from 'to infer', meaning 'to draw a conclusion') and ends with -ism ('a belief' or 'a theory'). So inferentialism is the idea that the meaning of words comes from the inferences or reasoning links between statements.
