Plural Predication

Author : Thomas McKay
Publisher : Oxford University Press on Demand
Page : 272 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2006-06-15
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9780199278145

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Plural Predication by Thomas McKay Pdf

Plural predication is a pervasive part of ordinary language. We can say that some people are fifty in number, are surrounding a building, come from many countries, and are classmates. These predicates can be true of some people without being true of any one of them; they are non-distributive predications. Yet the apparatus of predication and quantification in standard modern logic does not allow a place for such non-distributive predicates.Thomas McKay's book explores the enrichment of modern logic with plural predication and quantification. We can have genuinely non-distributive predication without relying on singularizing procedures from set theory and mereology. The fundamental 'among' relation can be understood in a way that does not generate any hierarchy of plurals analogous to a hierarchy of types or a hierarchy of higher-order logics. Singular quantification can be understood as a special case, with the general type beingquantifiers that allow both singular and plural quantification. The 'among' relation is formally similar to a 'part of' relation, but the relations are distinct, so that mass quantification and plural quantification cannot be united in the same way that plural and singular are united.Analysis of singular and plural definite descriptions follows, with a defense of a fundamentally Russellian analysis, but coupled with some new ideas about how to be sensitive to the role of context. This facilitates an analysis of some central features of the use of pronouns, both singular and plural.

Author : Alex Oliver,Timothy Smiley
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 52,8 Mb
Release : 2016-11-04
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780192593153

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Plural Logic by Alex Oliver,Timothy Smiley Pdf

Alex Oliver and Timothy Smiley provide a natural point of entry to what for most readers will be a new subject. Plural logic deals with plural terms ('Whitehead and Russell', 'Henry VIII's wives', 'the real numbers', 'the square root of -1', 'they'), plural predicates ('surrounded the fort', 'are prime', 'are consistent', 'imply'), and plural quantification ('some things', 'any things'). Current logic is singularist: its terms stand for at most one thing. By contrast, the foundational thesis of this book is that a particular term may legitimately stand for several things at once; in other words, there is such a thing as genuinely plural denotation. The authors argue that plural phenomena need to be taken seriously and that the only viable response is to adopt a plural logic, a logic based on plural denotation. They expound a framework of ideas that includes the distinction between distributive and collective predicates, the theory of plural descriptions, multivalued functions, and lists. A formal system of plural logic is presented in three stages, before being applied to Cantorian set theory as an illustration. Technicalities have been kept to a minimum, and anyone who is familiar with the classical predicate calculus should be able to follow it. The authors' approach is an attractive blend of no-nonsense argumentative directness and open-minded liberalism, and they convey the exciting and unexpected richness of their subject. Mathematicians and linguists, as well as logicians and philosophers, will find surprises in this book. This second edition includes a greatly expanded treatment of the paradigm empty term zilch, a much strengthened treatment of Cantorian set theory, and a new chapter on higher-level plural logic.

Author : Thomas J. McKay
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 263 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2006
Category : Electronic
ISBN : OCLC:1132038320

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Plural predication by Thomas J. McKay Pdf

Author : Barry Schein
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 412 pages
File Size : 48,9 Mb
Release : 1993
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 0262193345

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Plurals and Events by Barry Schein Pdf

Barry Schein proposes combining a second-order treatment of plurals with Donald Davidson's suggestion that there are positions for reference to events in ordinary predicates in order to account for several of the more puzzling features of plurals without invoking plural objects, with its attendant metaphysics, and also provide an absolute truth-theoretic characterization of the semantics of sentences with plurals in them. How do we make sense of sentences with plural noun phrases in them? In Plurals and Events, Barry Schein proposes combining a second-order treatment of plurals with Donald Davidson's suggestion that there are positions for reference to events in ordinary predicates in order to account for several of the more puzzling features of plurals without invoking plural objects, with its attendant metaphysics, and also provide an absolute truth-theoretic characterization of the semantics of sentences with plurals in them. Schein's highly original argument should have significant impact on how natural-language semantics is done, with repercussions for philosophy and logic. The book opens with foundational arguments that the logical language should have four major features: reduction to singular predication via a Davidsonian logical form, amereology of events, a logical syntax that allows the constituents of a Davidsonian analysis to be predicated of distinct events and separated from one another by other logical elements, and descriptive anaphors that cross-refer to the events described by antecedent clauses. A semantics for plurality and quantification is developed in the remaining chapters, which address some of the empirical and formal questions raised by the variety of interpretations in which plurals and quantifiers participate.

Author : Karen Bennett,Dean W. Zimmerman
Publisher : OUP Oxford
Page : 392 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 2013-12-05
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780191505478

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Oxford Studies in Metaphysics by Karen Bennett,Dean W. Zimmerman Pdf

Much of the most interesting work in philosophy today is metaphysical in character. Oxford Studies in Metaphysics is a forum for the best new work in this flourishing field. OSM offers a broad view of the subject, featuring not only the traditionally central topics such as existence, identity, modality, time, and causation, but also the rich clusters of metaphysical questions in neighbouring fields, such as philosophy of mind and philosophy of science. Besides independent essays, volumes will often contain a critical essay on a recent book, or a symposium that allows participants to respond to one another's criticisms and questions. Anyone who wants to know what's happening in metaphysics can start here.

Author : Kim Byunghan,Brendle Jorg,Lee Gyesik,Liu Fenrong,Ramanujam R,Srivastava Shashi M,Tsuboi Akito,Yu Liang
Publisher : World Scientific
Page : 312 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 2019-01-16
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 9789813237568

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Proceedings Of The 14th And 15th Asian Logic Conferences by Kim Byunghan,Brendle Jorg,Lee Gyesik,Liu Fenrong,Ramanujam R,Srivastava Shashi M,Tsuboi Akito,Yu Liang Pdf

The Asian Logic Conference (ALC) is a major international event in mathematical logic. It features the latest scientific developments in the fields of mathematical logic and its applications, logic in computer science, and philosophical logic. The ALC series also aims to promote mathematical logic in the Asia-Pacific region and to bring logicians together both from within Asia and elsewhere for an exchange of information and ideas. This combined proceedings volume represents works presented or arising from the 14th and 15th ALCs.

Author : Fred Landman
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 397 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2012-12-06
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9789401143592

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Events and Plurality by Fred Landman Pdf

JERUSALEM LECTURES In 1992, I was a Lady Davis Fellow in the English Department at the Hebrew Univer sity of Jerusalem. In the context of this, Edit Doron asked me to present a series of weekly evening lectures. The idea was that I would be talking about my own current research on plurality in an event based theory, without the restraints that a nonnal seminar fonnat would im pose: i.e. the idea was that I would actually get to the part where I would talk about my own work. At the same time, Edit added, it would be nice if, rather than just presupposing or presenting a neo-Davidsonian framework to develop my analysis of plurality, I could provide a more general setting of the problems by discussing in some depth the archi tecture of event arguments and thematic roles. In particular, Terry Parsons' book, Par sons 1990, had appeared relatively recently, and there was real interest among the audience in discussing Parsons' arguments for events and roles.

Author : Massimiliano Carrara,Alexandra Arapinis,Friederike Moltmann
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 276 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2016
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9780198716327

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Unity and Plurality by Massimiliano Carrara,Alexandra Arapinis,Friederike Moltmann Pdf

This volume brings together new work on the logic and ontology of plurality and on the semantics of plurals in natural language. A team of leading experts explore the traditions of plural reference and a singularist approach to plurals; investigate non-standard mereology; and explore novel applications to natural language phenomena.

Author : Daniel Lassiter,Marija Slavkovik
Publisher : Springer
Page : 242 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2012-07-26
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 9783642314674

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New Directions in Logic, Language, and Computation by Daniel Lassiter,Marija Slavkovik Pdf

The European Summer School in Logic, Language and Information (ESSLLI) is organized every year by the Association for Logic, Language and Information (FoLLI) in different sites around Europe. The main focus of ESSLLI is on the interface between linguistics, logic and computation. ESSLLI offers foundational, introductory and advanced courses, as well as workshops, covering a wide variety of topics within the three areas of interest: Language and Computation, Language and Logic, and Logic and Computation. During two weeks, around 50 courses and 10 workshops are offered to the attendants, each of 1.5 hours per day during a five days week, with up to seven parallel sessions. ESSLLI also includes a student session (papers and posters by students only, 1.5 hour per day during the two weeks) and four evening lectures by senior scientists in the covered areas. The 15 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected. The papers are organized in topical sections on The papers are organized in topical sections on language and computation; logic and computation; and logic and language.

Author : Christine Helmer
Publisher : Westminster John Knox Press
Page : 248 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2014-08-22
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781611645255

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Theology and the End of Doctrine by Christine Helmer Pdf

This book is about the crisis brought about by doctrine's estrangement from reality--that is from actual lives, experiences, histories, and from God. By invoking "the end of doctrine," Christine Helmer opens a new discussion of doctrinal production that is engaged with the challenges and possibilities of modernity. The end of doctrine refers on the one hand to unquestioning doctrinal reception, which Helmer critiques, and on the other, represents an invitation to a new way of understanding the aim of doctrine in deeper connection to the reality that it seeks. The book's first section offers an analysis of the current situation in theology by reconstructing a trajectory of Protestant theology from the turn of the twentieth century to today. This history focuses primarily on the status of the word in theology and explains how changes in theology in the context of the political and social crisis in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s led to a distancing of the word from reality. Helmer then turns to the constructive section of the book to propose a repositioning of theology to the world and to God. Helmer's powerful work will inspire revitalized interest in both doctrine and theological inquiry itself.

Author : Nino B. Cocchiarella
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 347 pages
File Size : 46,6 Mb
Release : 2007-09-05
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781402062049

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Formal Ontology and Conceptual Realism by Nino B. Cocchiarella Pdf

Theories about the ontological structure of the world have generally been described in informal, intuitive terms. This book offers an account of the general features and methodology of formal ontology. The book defends conceptual realism as the best system to adopt based on a logic of natural kinds. By formally reconstructing an intuitive, informal ontological scheme as a formal ontology we can better determine the consistency and adequacy of that scheme.

Author : A. J. Cotnoir,Donald L. M. Baxter
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 271 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 2014
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780199669615

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Composition as Identity by A. J. Cotnoir,Donald L. M. Baxter Pdf

This collection of essays is the first of its kind to focus on the relationship between composition and identity. Twelve original articles--written by internationally renowned scholars and rising stars in the field--argue for and against the controversial doctrine that composition is identity.--Provided by publisher.

Author : Robert Sinclair
Publisher : Springer
Page : 210 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 2019-02-05
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9783030049096

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Science and Sensibilia by W. V. Quine by Robert Sinclair Pdf

In this book, W. V. Quine’s Immanuel Kant Lectures entitled Science and Sensibilia are published for the first time in English. These lectures represent an important stage in the development of Quine’s later thought, where he is more explicit about the importance of physicalist constraints in his account of the steps from sensory stimulation to scientific theory, and in further using them to assess the extent to which mental vocabulary is defensible. Taken as a unit, these lectures fill an important gap in our understanding of his philosophical development from his 1973 work The Roots of Reference to his later work. The volume further contains an introduction that outlines the content and philosophical significance of the lectures. In addition, several essays written by leading scholars of Quine’s philosophy provide further insight into the important issues raised in the lectures.

Author : Paul M. Pietroski,Professor of Philosophy and Professor of Linguistics Paul M Pietroski
Publisher : Oxford University Press on Demand
Page : 276 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2005
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9780199244300

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Events and Semantic Architecture by Paul M. Pietroski,Professor of Philosophy and Professor of Linguistics Paul M Pietroski Pdf

This book explores how grammatical structure is related to meaning. The meaning of a phrase clearly depends on its constituent words and how they are combined. But how does structure contribute to meaning in natural language? Does combining adjectives with nouns (as in 'brown dog') differ semantically from combining verbs with adverbs (as in 'barked loudly')? What is the significance of combining verbs with names and quantificational expressions (as in 'Fido chased every cat')? Inaddressing such questions, Paul Pietroski develops a novel conception of linguistic meaning according to which the semantic contribution of combining expressions is simple and uniform across constructions.Drawing on work at the heart of contemporary debates in linguistics and philosophy, the author argues that Donald Davidson's treatment of action sentences as event descriptions should be viewed as an instructive special case of a more general semantic theory. The unified theory covers a wide range of examples, including sentences that involve quantification, plurality, descriptions of complex causal processes, and verbs that take sentential complements. Professor Pietroski also provides freshways of thinking about much discussed semantic generalizations that seem to reflect innately determined aspects of human languages.Designed to be accessible to anyone with a basic knowledge of elementary logic, Events and Semantic Architecture will interest a wide range of scholars in linguistics, philosophy, and cognitive science.

Author : Jia-Fei Hong,Qi Su,Jiun-Shiung Wu
Publisher : Springer
Page : 820 pages
File Size : 42,9 Mb
Release : 2018-11-25
Category : Computers
ISBN : 9783030040154

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Chinese Lexical Semantics by Jia-Fei Hong,Qi Su,Jiun-Shiung Wu Pdf

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-workshop proceedings of the 19th Chinese Lexical Semantics Workshop, CLSW 2018, held in Chiayi, Taiwan, in May 2018. The 50 full papers and 19 short papers included in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 150 submissions. They are organized in the following topical sections: Lexical Semantics; Applications of Natural Language Processing; Lexical Resources; Corpus Linguistics.