This is a reminder for:
Title: PG WIP: Matthew Hammerton
USYD Philosophy Postgraduate Work-in-Progress Seminar
Matthew Hammerton: 'The Semantics of Gay Marriage'
ABSTRACT: In this talk I will take some ideas that have emerged in the
philosophy of language in the last 40 years and apply them to the issue of
same-sex marriage. My concern will not be the social/moral/political debate
about whether same-sex marriage should be legalised, but rather the
semantic question regarding what the term ‘marriage’ means. This question
about the meaning of ‘marriage’ has become relevant to the same-sex
marriage debate because some people have argued that it is a semantic fact
that marriage must be heterosexual. In other words, it is part of the
meaning of the term ‘marriage’ that only people of opposite sexes can be
married, just as it is part of the meaning of the term ‘bachelor’ that only
males can be bachelors. Let’s call this semantic thesis about ‘marriage’
the ‘heterosexual marriage thesis’ (HMT). Advocates of HMT claim that even
if it is right to allow homosexual couples to enter civil unions with the
same rights and entitlements as heterosexual couples, it would be a misuse
of language, a conceptual confusion, to call such unions ‘marriages’. I
examine two arguments for HMT and find each of them wanting. I then present
an argument against HMT based on a dispositional theory of concepts.
Everyone is welcome to attend.
If you would like to present or require further information, please contact
Nick Malpas at [email protected]
The format is 30 minutes for presentations followed by 1 hour of
discussion. Since the primary aim of this seminar is to generate
discussion, presentations need not be particularly polished or formal.
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When: Mon 2 May 15:30 – 17:00 Eastern Time - Melbourne, Sydney
Where: Philosophy Common Room (Main Quad, University of Sydney)
Calendar: Postgraduate Events
Who:
* [email protected] creator
Event details:
https://www.google.com/calendar/event?action=VIEW&eid=NmhnZjNqOTM5cGxvaGt1cDhoZWNlN2c4Nm8gMmJlcm9za3ZqcjJnMjRyam50cWxxZWdzNm9AZw
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