Robert Stainton
Distinguished Professor
Philosophy of Language, Epistemology and Philosophy of Mind, Philosophical Issues in Cognitive Science
BA York;
Office: Stevenson Hall 3126
E-mail: rstainto@uwo.ca
Website: https://robertstainton.com/
Much of my work lies at the intersection of philosophy of language and theoretical linguistics. I am interested in “mainstream” issues, such as the syntax-semantics-pragmatics boundaries, the metaphysical grounding of linguistic facts, and the proper evidence-base for the study of human languages. However, my interests also extend to less usual subjects at said intersection, such as clinical pragmatics (especially communication deficits in Autism) and the history of philosophy of language.
Beyond language and linguistics, I am able to supervise in philosophy of psychology, philosophy of mind, and epistemology. I can, in a pinch, serve on dissertation committees in Analytic metaphysics, meta-ethics and certain periods of history of philosophy.
Recent Publications
Books
Words and Thoughts. (Oxford University Press, 2006).
Knowledge and Mind. (With J. Andrew Brook). (The MIT Press, 2000).
Philosophical Perspectives on Language. (Broadview Press, 1996).
Articles
"Do Languages Really Exist?" (With Chris Viger) In U. Stojnic and E. Lepore (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Language, 2nd edition. Oxford University Press, 2025, pp. 3-23."Troubles with Rey’s Linguistic Eliminativism". (With Chris Viger). Mind and Language 37(2), 2022, pp. 261-273."First-Person Plural Indexicals". (With Arthur Sullivan) Disputatio 14(66), 2022, pp. 271-304.
"Linguistic Prescriptivism". (With Alex Barber) In J. Khoo and R. Sterken (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Social and Political Philosophy of Language, 2021, pp. 56-69.
"Quasi-Factives and Cognitive Efficiency". (With Axel Barceló) In K. Scott, B. Clark and R. Carston (eds.) Relevance Theory: Pragmatics and Interpretation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019, pp. 53-65.
"Register and Slurs: A Case Study in Meaning Pluralism". (With Justina Diaz-Legaspe and Chang Liu). Mind and Language Vol. 34(4), 2019, pp. 1-27.
"Two Questions about Interpretive Effects". (With Chris Viger) In G. Preyer (ed.) Semantics, Pragmatics and Interpretation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018, pp. 9-31.
"Re-Reading Anscombe on ‘I’." Canadian Journal of Philosophy Vol. 49(1), 2018, pp. 70-93.
