The Philosophy Meetup – Philosophy of Language: Vagueness and Ambiguity

Hello Philosophy Fans!

UPDATE: we have a topic for the Meetup, this Sunday, May 24 at 5 PM – 7 PM Pacific Time. We're meeting on zoom this month; shortly before the meeting starts, I'll send a Zoom invitation with the link and some discussion notes.

If your plans to attend have changed, please update your RSVP.

The winner of the email vote and the topic for Sunday is:

VAGUENESS, AMBIGUITY AND GENERALITY. What is "vagueness" and what are the different kinds of vagueness? What's the difference between a vague idea and an ambiguous idea? What's the difference between a vague idea and a general or broad idea? Is all vagueness linguistic/conceptual or do some kinds of vagueness exist in the world? Can objects or events be vague? Can experiences be vague?
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READINGS for the topic – I have a short podcast and two articles for you this time. Inspire and clarify your thinking on the issues by reading and listening to them!

https://philosophybites.com/podcast/timothy-williamson-on-vagueness/
Listen to the 14.5-minute *Philosophy Bites *podcast on the nature of Vagueness. Host and philosopher Nigel Warburton interviews Oxford philosophy professor Timothy Williamson, an expert on Vagueness. You can listen online or read the transcript. “Williamson explains how we can make sense of such vague concepts as 'heap' or 'red' or 'bald' in the process outlining his own solution to what are usually known as Sorites Paradoxes. Williamson gives a precise account of what 'vagueness' means, how it differs from ambiguity, and why this matters.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagueness
The Wikipedia entry on Vagueness goes over various aspects of vagueness as well as several theories of how to make sense of vagueness. The article is about 8 pages long.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambiguity
The Wikipedia entry on Ambiguity discusses many kinds of ambiguity and touches on their philosophical importance. The article is about 7 pages long.
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FYI, we talk about the topic from 5 PM – 7 PM, though a number of people stay on for several more hours and talk about the topic and/or about whatever else comes up in a looser, freewheeling conversation.

Don't forget, if you have some philosophical question or issue that you want to talk about at a future meeting, email it to me!