Meaning, Justification, and 'Primitive Normativity'

Abstract

I critically discuss two claims which Hannah Ginsborg makes on behalf of her account of meaning in terms of ‘primitive normativity'(2011; 2012): first, that it avoids the sceptical regress articulated by Kripke's Wittgenstein; second, that it makes sense of the thought-central to Kripke's Wittgenstein-that ‘meaning is normative', in a way which shows this thought not only to be immune from recent criticisms but also to undermine reductively naturalistic theories of content. In the course of the discussion, I consider and attempt to shed light on a number of issues: the structure of the sceptical regress; the content of the thought that ‘meaning is normative', and its force against reductive theories; the connection between meaning and justification; and the notion of ‘primitive normativity'.