Subject obviation and self-locating knowledge

Summary Subject obviation is a restriction on having coreferential subjects in sentences like #Je veux que je parte ‘I want that I leave’. In this paper, I defend the view that sentences with subject obviation are deviant because they violate the principle of non-triviality. This principle disallows the ascription of propositions whose content does not exclude any possibility from a belief state. I argue that embedded propositions in obviative sentences involve self-locating information (information about who and where we are in the world), which leads to a violation of non-triviality in certain attitude ascriptions. I show that sentences with subject obviation are deviant for the same reason as #I believe I am sane when the speaker has no doubts about her sanity.