This project defends a normative metasemantic view of hybrid representations. By representations we refer to activities such as linguistic speech acts, communicative acts in different media, the products of such activities, and the mental states or attitudes that these activities and their products express. By hybrid we refer to their multidimensional nature: for instance, that they don’t merely describe or categorise, they often also evaluate or affectively appraise. Our metasemantics is Austinian, and distinguishes the general effects of speech practices, tools, and artefacts from their specific functions those that the being in force of their defining constitutive rules is meant to achieve. We aim to continue to explore the implications of the pervasiveness and indispensability of hybrid representations for the nature of representations in general by investigating thick and dual-character concepts and hybrid artworks, and also to assess new challenges arising from non-ideal philosophy of language. The new challenges are motivated by a variety of cases derogation, expressives, nonliteral speech, political manipulation and propaganda which we will address. We further aim to show that research on hybrid concepts (thick and dual-character) and on artworks properly puts into perspective the strength of the case for new non-ideal theories.
The project runs the reading group on hybrid representations (convened by Teresa Marques).
Other reading groups related to the various workpackages of the project:
– Semantics and pragmatics (convenor: Josep Macià)
– Gender, Race, and Sexuality: Philosophy of Language and Social Ontology (convenors: Esa Díaz-León and Martina Rosola)
– Philosophy of film (convenors: Manuel García-Carpintero and Josep Corbí)
COMING UP:
– BIAP COOPERATION WORKSHOP (organized with Vita-Salute San Raffaele University and Münster University): Women do Philosophy of Language. 8-9 February 2027.
– BW Barcelona Workshop Artefacts. 8-9 March 2027.
Former events:
BIAP Collaborate Event: Conference jointly organised by WP5 and WP6 of the María de Maeztu programme:
- Lies, Fiction, and Manipulation in Propaganda, 12-13 February 2026.
Recent events organised or sponsored by the project include:
