This assignment calls for a paper of about ten to twelve pages. It is
fine if much of the discussion is exigetical. You may choose to
answer one of the following questions, or you may devise a question of
your own. If you choose to answer one of the questions here, do feel
free to narrow the scope of the question as much as you like.
What is Soames's account of or reaction to the problem of
higher-order vagueness? Is higher-order vagueness less of a
problem for a contexualist view like Kamp's, Soame's or Graff's
than it is for other views? Why or why not?
Present, compare and contrast the answers given by at least two
contexualists (Tappenden, Raffman, Kamp, Soames, Graff) to what
I call the Psychological Question. Give relative evaluations of
the merits of the answers you discuss.
What is Williamson's view about borderline cases? Do his
arguments support the claim that when a is a borderline
case of a vague predicate F it is unknown whether
a is F or unknowable whether a is
F? Or do his arguments support some different claim? Are
Williamson's argument successful? Why or why not?