Imperatives: Linguistics vs. philosophy

Abstract

This article examines literature pertinent to informed study of imperatives. It indicates the main problems and the challenge they, in turn, pose to comprehensive semantices of natural languages. It also hints at conceivable alternatives suggested by empirical questions arising from the texts and aims to show how method matters. Section 1 outlines Hamblin (1987); section 2 goes into detail on defining imperatives, section 3 on their pragmatic typology, and section 4 on relations between addressee and referent of grammatical subject. Section 5 examines Hamblin's analyses of negation and coordination. Section 6 outlines Kamp (1979) on ox-coordinated permissions, notes difficulties, and raises yet more serious problems posed by and coordination. Section 7 summarizes four semantically important aspects of imperatives. For readers with a mathematical background it also sketches one conceivable way of turning observations and critique into something more constructive. Throughout, every opportunity is seized upon to argue that (formal) linguistics and philosophy might profitably go their separate ways. © 1991, Walter de Gruyter. All rights reserved.