Colloquium Steve Oswald: Is insinuation plausibly deniable? Yes, but conditions apply

Is insinuation plausibly deniable? Yes, but conditions apply

Steve Oswald, University of Fribourg, Switzerland

The next colloquium of the Department of Theoretical Philosophy in Groningen will take place on 26 February from 15:15 to 17:00 in room Omega, Faculty of Philosophy, Oude Boteringestraat 52, Groningen. Everybody is welcome!

The (plausible) deniability of insinuation is arguably a feature that can explain why people resort to such implicit messages when they want to convey normatively problematic or delicate contents (such as derogatory ascriptions, bribes, sexual innuendo, etc.). In this talk I report on two experimental studies on the plausibility of insinuation denial. The first tests the claim that denied insinuations are still reputationally staining (Bell 1997, Fraser 2001), while the second assesses whether the plausibility of cancellations and disavowals, when accompanied by non-staining alternative meanings, is affected by prosodic features of the insinuating utterance (presence vs. absence of pause, rise-fall-rise vs. neutral intonation). The results of these experiments will be discussed in light of the notions of commitment, deniability and accountability, in order to contribute to ongoing debates about the pragmatic nature and features of insinuation.

Please inform Jan Albert van Laar (j.a.van.laar rug.nl) in advance if you want to join the dinner.