Publikationen

Bücher:

1. On Frege Puzzles: Why Propositions Are Not the Objects of Our Mental Attitudes, Studies in Contemporary Philosophy, Routledge (forthcoming).

2. The Social Meaning of Slurs and Slang Terms, Cambridge University Press (under contract).

Aufsätze:

1. Crane on Putnam on Intentionality, Australasian Philosophical Review (forthcoming).

2. Scorekeeping in a Therapeutic Language Game, Philosophy (2025) (open access). (Essay Prize of the Royal Institute of Philosophy).

3. Accommodating Hatred in Harmful Speech and Contestation (ed. Mihaela Popa-Wyatt), Palgrave MacMillan (2024).

4. False Friends in Political Dogwhistles (mit Alexander Hieke), Inquiry (2024) (open access).

5. The Relational Analysis of Belief Ascriptions and Schiffer's Puzzle, Erkenntnis (2024) (open access).

6. Attitude Ascriptions: A New Old Problem for Russell's Theory of Descriptions, Synthese (2024) (open access).

7. Direct Reference and the Goldbach Puzzle, Theoria (2023) (open access).

8. How to Do Things with Slurs – oder wie anhand von Sprache abgewertet wird (mit Alexander Hieke) in Theoretisches Philosophieren und Lebensweltorientierung -- ein Wegweiser für Hochschule und Schule (eds. Bussmann, B./Mayr, P.), Metzler Verlag (2023).

9. Slurs and Freedom of Speech, Journal of Applied Philosophy (2022) (open access).

10. Oswald Revisited: The Effect of Focus and Context (mit Eugenia Kulakova), Synthese (2022) (open access).

11. Wirken durch Anpassung: Eine sprachphilosophische Erklärung der Wirksamkeit systemischer Fragen, Zeitschrift für Philosophische Forschung 76 (2): 288-296 (2022).

12. Slurs under Quotation (mit Alexander Hieke), Philosophical Studies (2021) (open access).

13. Recanati on `'That'-clauses, Res Philosophica 98 (4): 619-626 (2021).

14. A Puzzle about Logical Analysis, Philosophia (2021) (open access).

15. The Multiple Relation Theory and Schiffer's Puzzle, Synthese (2020) (open access).

16. Naive Russellians and Schiffer's Puzzle, Erkenntnis (2020) (open access).

17. Kripkes kausale Theorie der Bezugnahme, Zeitschrift für Philosophische Forschung 73 (2): 209-221 (2019).

18. Brains in Vats and Semantic Externalism: New Hope for the Skeptic, European Journal of Analytic Philosophy 12 (2): 73-88 (2016).

The Therapeutic Game

In October 2024, my research project on the philosophy of language of psychotherapy titled The Therapeutic Game and funded by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation has started at the University of Duisburg-Essen. The following abstract-video briefly introduces the central idea of the project, which is to gain a better understanding of the linguistic mechanisms of therapeutic methods based on David Lewis' linguistic-philosophical theory of conversations as games. For more information please visit: https://the-therapeutic-game.webnode.page

CFP: Topoi Special Issue

Paper submissions are invited for the special issue/collection of Topoi entitled: The Darkside of Language: Linguistic Derogation and Its Prevention. The special issue aims to bring together researchers on different areas of derogatory and manipulative language who also discuss the practical implications of their research when it comes to preventing both linguistic derogation/manipulation and its negative effects.

Special issue article publications often bring higher citations and visibility than regular papers and attract more relevant readership due to its scope. Topoi is indexed in the Web of Science under AHCI, currently in Quartile 1 and placed in the top-10 ranked Philosophy-Category journals, with a 2023 IF of 1,3 and CiteScore of 3,1.

Guest Editor(s):

• Stefan Rinner, University of Duisburg-Essen, Email: stefan.rinner@uni-due.de

DESCRIPTION

Language can be used in highly destructive ways. One such way is the usage of pejorative language. These are individual expressions, such as slurs, or larger linguistic constructions, such as hate speech, that are used to derogate an individual or group because of a certain group identity (e.g. based on race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or the like) or because of personal characteristics, such as appearance. As a consequence, derogatory language primarily has two functions. First, it can be used to offend or psychologically harm. Second, it can be used to create or reinforce negative attitudes towards the derogated individual or group. For example, most uses of derogatory language for Jewish people in Nazi propaganda had mainly the purpose to create and reinforce anti-Semitic attitudes that would lead to increasing discrimination and violence against Jewish people, to their expulsion or incarceration in concentration camps, and, ultimately, to genocide.

In the philosophy of language, the question then arises how linguistic derogation is accomplished. A satisfactory answer to this question should explain both the offensiveness of derogatory language and the fact that it can be used to create and reinforce negative attitudes. Since a comprehensive understanding of language requires an understanding of how language is used to derogate, providing such an explanation is generally seen as a touchstone for the quality and correctness of theories from the philosophy of language. Moreover, a better understanding of how linguistic derogation is accomplished is not only of theoretical interest, but also of practical and ethical relevance. If we can understand how linguistic derogation works, then we can also understand how to prevent or at least contain the negative consequences of its use, and whether such attempts at containment are compatible with, for example, the right to free speech.

The discussion of linguistic derogation is often scattered throughout different areas of inquiry, such as slurs, hate speech, or misgendering. Furthermore, the question of how a better understanding of linguistic derogation can help us to prevent or at least contain the negative consequences of its use is often neglected. The ambition of this collection is to close both gaps by bringing together researchers on different areas of derogatory language who also discuss the practical implications of their research. In addition, the issue will discuss phenomena in the vicinity of linguistic derogation, such as linguistic manipulation (e.g., the use of dogwhistles).

Possible topics include (but are not limited to):

• The semantics and pragmatics of derogatory language (including misgendering)

• Derogatory language and free speech

• Counterspeech and other ways of blocking the negative effects of derogatory language

• Linguistic manipulation and its prevention (e.g. dogwhistles, coded language, fake news)

INVITED CONTRIBUTORS:

Jennifer Saul and Ray Drainville (University of Waterloo)

Quill R. Kukla (Georgetown University)

Mihaela Popa-Wyatt and Justina Berskyte (University of Manchester)

Caroline West (University of Sidney)

Bianca Cepollaro (University Vita-Salute San Raffaele) and Dan López de Sa (ICREA & University of Barcelona)

Deborah Mühlebach (Free University of Berlin)

Teresa Marques (University of Barcelona)

Lynne Tirrell (University of Connecticut)

Romy Jaster (Humboldt University of Berlin) and David Lanius (University of Salzburg)

Emanuel Viebahn (University of Hamburg)

Neftalí Villanueva, Andrea Rodrigues, and José Luis Linán (University of Granada)

Thorsten Sander (University of Duisburg-Essen)

Submission DEADLINE: Please submit your paper by July, 31, 2025. Should you not be able to meet this deadline, please contact the Lead Guest Editor (contact details below).

Online SUBMISSION: Please use the journal's Online Manuscript Submission System (Editorial Manager), accessible here Editorial Manager®. Do note that paper submissions via email are not accepted.

Author Submission's GUIDELINES: Authors are asked to prepare their manuscripts according to the journal's standard Submission Guidelines.

EDITORIAL PROCESS:

• When uploading your paper in Editorial Manager, please select "SI: Linguistic derogation (Rinner)" in the drop-down menu "Article Type".

• Papers should not exceed a maximum of 9000 words.

• All papers will undergo the journal's standard review procedure (double-blind peer-review), according to the journal's Peer Review Policy, Process and Guidance

• Reviewers will be selected according to the Peer Reviewer Selection policies.

• This journal offers the option to publish Open Access. You are allowed to publish open access through Open Choice. Please explore the OA options available through your institution by referring to our list of OA Transformative Agreements.

• Once papers are accepted, they will be made available as Online articles publications until final publication into an issue and available on the page Collections.

CONTACT: For any questions, please directly contact the Lead Guest Editor: Stefan Rinner, stefan.rinner@uni-due.de