Burns, Lynda C [1991] Vagueness: an Investigation Into Natural Language and the Sorites Paradox, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Problems to do with vagueness have been the focus of much recent philosophical inquiry. In this book a number of varieties of vagueness are investigated and their relation to puzzles to do with language and perception are explored. The author investigates the reasons why the Sorites paradox has been so puzzling to philosophers. She reviews some approaches to the problem and suggests an original solution. This solution resolves some of the debates about the nature of language provoked by Frege's claim that the presence of vagueness in a language renders it incoherent. The resolution of the problem suggested here shows how a language which is genuinely vague can nevertheless be coherent. It also throws light on problems to do with perception and on the relation between vagueness in language and psychological phenomena. Preface. Part I: Puzzles, Problems and Paradoxes. 1.Conceptions of Vagueness. 2. Linguistic Behaviour. 3. Approaches to Vagueness. Part II: The Sorites Paradox. 4. The Paradox. 5. Response to the Paradox. 6. A Solution to the Paradox. 7. Further Problems and Puzzles. 8. Vagueness and Perception. 9. Conclusions. Bibliography. Index.