Evidentially Hedged Assertions
Dario Mortini (LOGOS, University of Barcelona)
25 October 2024, 16:00 (Lisbon Time – WET)
Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa
Sala Mattos Romão [C201.J] (Departamento de Filosofia)
Abstract: Speakers make evidentially hedged assertions whenever they weaken commitment to what they assert in virtue of disclosing imperfectly reliable sources of evidence in their assertions. A novel and recently influential case for the knowledge norm of assertion appeals to conjunctions of evidentially hedged assertions and knowledge ascriptions. This paper challenges this novel case: I introduce additional conjunctions that cast serious doubt on the presumed robust connection between evidentially hedged assertions and knowledge ascriptions. The upshot calls for a reassessment of this new linguistic evidence for the knowledge norm, and it also highlights noteworthy but underappreciated features of evidentially hedged assertions.