Speaking indirectly : theories of non-literal speech in Indian philosophy

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dc.contributor.advisorPhillips, Stephen H., 1950-en
dc.contributor.committeeMemberBuchanan, Rayen
dc.contributor.committeeMemberDever, Joshen
dc.contributor.committeeMemberKamp, Hansen
dc.contributor.committeeMemberMcCrea, Larryen
dc.creatorKeating, Colin Malcolmen
dc.creator.orcid0000-0001-8121-4016en
dc.date.accessioned2015-10-08T23:01:19Zen
dc.date.available2015-10-08T23:01:19Zen
dc.date.issued2015-05en
dc.date.submittedMay 2015en
dc.date.updated2015-10-08T23:01:19Zen
dc.descriptiontexten
dc.description.abstractHow do hearers recognize when someone is speaking figuratively, and how do they recover the content--whatever it is--of an utterance? "Speaking Indirectly" explores this question in Indian philosophy, showing along the way that it is a helpful conversation partner with Western philosophy of language. Focusing on the debate between ninth-century Indian philosophers Mukulabhatt̤a and Ānandavardhana about competing explanations of non-literal meaning, I argue that Mukulabhatt̤a's proposal can be understood in the spirit of Gricean pragmatics, and is broadly successful. I also show that he tacitly appeals to reasoning known as arthāpatti to explain the interpretive process, a process which I conclude is a version of inference to the best explanation. I also employ contemporary conceptual tools, such as the theory of sort-shifting, to illustrate the plausibility of Mukulabhatt̤a's analysis of non-literal speech. A significant aspect of my dissertation is a new, philosophically informed, English translation of Mukulabhatt̤a's Sanskrit text, the Abhidhā-vṛtta-mātṛkā (Fundamentals of the Communicative Function).en
dc.description.departmentPhilosophyen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifierdoi:10.15781/T2PG6Cen
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2152/31618en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.subjectArthapattien
dc.subjectGriceen
dc.subjectPragmaticsen
dc.subjectMukulabhatt̤aen
dc.subjectSanskriten
dc.subjectLanguageen
dc.subjectNon-literal speechen
dc.subjectAlamkaraen
dc.subjectIndian philosophyen
dc.titleSpeaking indirectly : theories of non-literal speech in Indian philosophyen
dc.typeThesisen
thesis.degree.departmentPhilosophyen
thesis.degree.disciplinePhilosophyen
thesis.degree.grantorThe University of Texas at Austinen
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen

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