A Two-Dimensionalist Guide to Conceptual Analysis

A Two-Dimensionalist Guide to Conceptual Analysis is a book by Jens Kipper, published as volume 25 of Epistemic Studies (2012). It presents an analytical framework for conceptual analysis developed from two-dimensionalism, a semantic framework that differentiates two classes of meaning induced by linguistic communication: primary intension (descriptive reference to a priori epistemic possibilities) and secondary intension (defined reference to a posteriori metaphysical possibilities).

Kipper's central thesis is that two-dimensional semantic theory provides a methodology for conceptual analysis across epistemic and metaphysical modes.

By distinguishing intension into two functional classes, Kipper argues that conceptual analysis can be metaphysically robust and descriptively adequate:

primary intensions

functions from possible worlds considered as factual scenarios.

secondary intensions

functions from worlds considered as counterfactual scenarios.

The book applies the theory to canonical philosophical problems, including necessity, referencing, and analyticity. For example, Kipper looks at natural kind terms, and how their primary intensions encode description, while the secondary intensions mapping metaphysical structure. "Water is a clear, drinkable liquid in lakes and rivers," is a primary intension, while "water is H2O," is a secondary intension.

Kipper also establishes a typology of roles in conceptual analysis:

epistemic profile

set of conditions under which a concept is applicable

metaphysical anchor

entity or property that satisfy those conditions in the actual world.

Sounds like my relational structure and relational instantiation, as much as my metaphysics has entities.

Kipper emphasizes the utility of two-dimensionalist conceptual analysis, especially in contexts where intuition about possibility and necessity diverge.