國立臺灣大學哲學論評

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Crispin Wright (1987, 1989a, 1989b, 1989c, 1992, 1998) has recently proposed that meanings and intentions be metaphysically construed as secondary properties. Just as what falls under the extension of a color concept is dependent on how a perceiver’s relevant responses or judgments made under suitable conditions, the contents of what a person means by a term or of what a person intends cannot be determined independently of the person’s relevant judgments.Wright’s position is called “Judgment-Dependence Account”, given the judgment-dependence nature of meanings and intentions.

Paul Boghossian (1989) has pointed out that Wright’s judgment-dependence account violates an internal constraint, i.e., the “independence” condition, imposed by the theory itself. Consequently, Wright’s theory is fundamentally flawed as an account of meanings and intentions. In this paper, I argue that Wright’s judgment-dependence account is ambiguous. As a result, Boghossian’s criticism is effective against one version of Wright’s account, but it can be avoided on another version of Wright’s account. The aim of this paper is to clarify what Wright’s judgment-dependence account amounts to, by giving it a more plausible and reasonable version than some other versions such as the one under Boghossian’s attack. This paper ends with some comments on the significance and prospects of Wright’s proposal, based on the more plausible version of Wright’s judgment-dependence account, that meanings and intentions be characterized as secondary properties.