Analyticity and Context-Sensitivity. On Gillian Russell´s Account of Truth in Virtue of Meaning

Abstract

An objection is made to Gillian Russell’s (2008) attempt to give an account of analyticity in its metaphysical understanding —that is, that a sentence is analytic just in case it is true in virtue of its meaning. The objection focuses on the semantic aspects of the account, arguing that the kind of context sensitivity envisaged in it ends up yielding the disastrous result that no sentence is analytic in the intended manner. Two possible replies to the objection are analyzed and rebutted.