Modal Normativism: Reviving an Old Tradition KU Leuven
Modal normativism is the view that the function of modal claims is to convey normative rules. According to the modal normativist, the claim made by uttering the sentence ‘Necessarily, (Michelangelo's) David does not survive a drastic change in shape’ conveys the semantic rule ‘One ought not re-apply 'David' after a drastic change in shape' (the semantic rule specifies a condition under which it is not permitted to re-apply the term). The ...