Evidentially Hedged Assertions and the Knowledge Norm of Assertion

Speakers make evidentially hedged assertions when they weaken commitment to what they assert in virtue of disclosing imperfectly reliable sources of evidence in their assertions. A novel and increasingly influential case for the knowledge norm of assertion appeals to multiple strands of linguistic data on evidentially hedged assertions. This paper offers a critical evaluation of these data and shows that they do not clearly support the knowledge norm. The upshot calls for a reassessment of this new linguistic evidence while also highlighting noteworthy yet underappreciated features of evidentially hedged assertions.