The Department of Philosophy invites Dr. Kelly Weirich (Pierce College) to give a talk on the philosophy of language.

Giving and Withholding Uptake

Much contemporary philosophy of language focuses on what the speaker does. I propose that it’s the hearer’s turn. In this talk, I draw our attention to some of the ways giving and withholding uptake of another person’s speech—that is, moving forward with a certain version or interpretation of what was said—may constitute a conversational act. Taking up, or declining to take up, an intended meaning is not merely a matter of understanding the speaker’s intentions; it is something we do with other people’s words. We can do it well or poorly, for good or for ill, in acts of resistance or of domination. I present a preliminary understanding of uptake and describe some of its varieties, including what I’ll call transgressive uptake and gatekeeping the common ground.