Context, interest relativity and the sorites

Abstract

In this paper, I critique two different but related approaches to the sorites paradox of vagueness. According to the first, vague terms are context-sensitive. In a particularized sorites series, the content of the relevant term changes as one proceeds down the series. According to the second approach, developed by Delia Graff, in a particularized sorites series, the content of the vague term does not change, but the time of evaluation changes, which this has an effect on the truth-value of the statement, relative to that time.