Project Details
Projekt
The structure of representation: a new theory of propositional content
Applicant
Dr. Jan Westerhoff
Subject Area
Theoretical Philosophy
Term
from 2005 to 2008
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5455410
The aim of the research outlined below is to develop a new account of the structure of propositional content, that is of the structure of what such different bearers of information as sentences, beliefs, diagrams, pictures, brain states, models and maps represent. The theory of be developed will differ from present accounts in two main respects. Firstly it incorporates insights from widely accepted theories of our cognitive capacities employing propositional representation (such as logic, belief dynamics and decision theory). Secondly the theory will be representation-independent, i.e. it will not accord a privileged rôle to any particular framework of representation (such as linguistic representation) but investigate an account of the structure of ¿grammar¿ of representation more general than that usually discussed in linguistics. The results obtained will therefore be of interest to a variety of disciplines dealing with representations, in particular to linguistics and cognitive science. Further development of the projekt will investigate the relation of this theory of propositional content to issues in the history of ideas, theoretical neuroscience and the philosophy of mathematics.
DFG Programme
Research Fellowships
International Connection
United Kingdom, USA
