•  50
    In this paper, we propose an account of metaphor identification on the basis of contextual coherence. In doing so, we build on previous work by Nicholas Asher and Alex Lascarides that appeals to rhetorical relations in order to explain discourse structure and the constraints on the interpretation of metaphor that follow from it. Applying this general idea to our problem, we will show that rhetorical relations are sometimes insufficient and sometimes inadequate for deciding whether a given uttera…Read more
  •  30
    Tasting and testing
    Linguistics and Philosophy 42 (6): 617-653. 2019.
    Our main concern in this paper is the semantics of predicates of personal taste. However, in order to see these predicates in the right perspective, we had to broaden the scope to the wider class of relative gradable adjectives. We present an analysis of the meaning of these adjectives in the framework of update semantics. In this framework the meaning of a sentence is not identified with its truth conditions, but with its impact on people’s intentional states. In this respect, an important char…Read more
  •  30
    Metaphor and contextual coherence: it's a match!
    Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy (n/a). 2023.
    Many sentences can be interpreted both as a metaphor and as a literal claim, depending on the context. The aim of this paper is to show that there are discourse-based systematic constraints on the identification of an utterance as metaphorical, literal, or both (as in the case of twice-apt metaphors), from a normative point of view. We claim that the key is contextual coherence. In order to substantiate this claim, we introduce a novel notion of context as a rich and heterogeneous body of inform…Read more
  • Interrogating Privacy in the digital society: media narratives after 2 cases
    with Caroline Rizza, Paula Curvelo, Michel Chiaramello, and Alessia Ghezzi
    International Review of Information Ethics 16 6-17. 2011.
    The introduction of information technology in the society and its pervasiveness in every aspect of citizens' daily life highlight societal stakes related to the goals regarding the uses IT, such as social networks. This paper examines two cases that lack a straightforward link with privacy as addressed and protected by existing law in Europe and the United-States , but whose characteristics, we believe fall on other privacy function and properties. In Western societies, individuals rely on norma…Read more