The role of semantics in testimonial communication

Abstract

According to what I call the Semantic-Syntactic Primacy (SSP), here represented by Elizabeth Fricker (2012) and Sanford Goldberg (2007; 2009), testimonial knowledge can only be transmitted through the strict, semantically defined contents of testifying speakers' uttered sentences. One main consequence of this view is that messages communicated beyond such strict content fail to be proper testimonial messages in the sense of failing to enable testimonial knowledge transmission. In this paper I argue against this view