The problem of the order of the conjuncts in the coordinating conjunction ‘and’: A logical-syntactic solution

From the mental models theory, it has been claimed that the conjunction commutativity law, that is, the logical law providing that the order of the conjuncts joined by the coordinating conjunction ‘and’ can be changed without modifying the truth-value of the sentence, is not always valid in real con...

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Main Author: Miguel López-Astorga
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidade Federal da Paraíba 2018-12-01
Series:Aufklärung
Subjects:
Online Access:https://periodicos.ufpb.br/ojs2/index.php/arf/article/view/43729
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author Miguel López-Astorga
author_facet Miguel López-Astorga
author_sort Miguel López-Astorga
collection DOAJ
description From the mental models theory, it has been claimed that the conjunction commutativity law, that is, the logical law providing that the order of the conjuncts joined by the coordinating conjunction ‘and’ can be changed without modifying the truth-value of the sentence, is not always valid in real conversations in natural language. For this reason, based on that very theory, it has been proposed that the true sense of a sentence of that kind can only be suitably captured by a semantic theory, such as the one of the mental models, which resorts to iconic possibilities describing reality. However, in this paper, it is argued that the formal and basically syntactic frameworks can also correctly stand for the actual meaning corresponding to propositions with a coordinating conjunction such as ‘and’ to which the conjunction commutativity law does not seem, in principle, to apply. To do that, they do not have to significantly move away from classical logic, but only to add to the connectives in this last logic a modal operator akin to ‘Next’ in temporal logic, and this without the need to assume many more temporal logical elements.
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spelling doaj.art-381db311bcb44b939443ca622cb2e6812022-12-21T20:48:07ZengUniversidade Federal da ParaíbaAufklärung2318-94282018-12-015310.18012/arf.2016.43729The problem of the order of the conjuncts in the coordinating conjunction ‘and’: A logical-syntactic solutionMiguel López-Astorga0Institute of Humanistic Studies “Juan Ignacio Molina”, Talca University, ChileFrom the mental models theory, it has been claimed that the conjunction commutativity law, that is, the logical law providing that the order of the conjuncts joined by the coordinating conjunction ‘and’ can be changed without modifying the truth-value of the sentence, is not always valid in real conversations in natural language. For this reason, based on that very theory, it has been proposed that the true sense of a sentence of that kind can only be suitably captured by a semantic theory, such as the one of the mental models, which resorts to iconic possibilities describing reality. However, in this paper, it is argued that the formal and basically syntactic frameworks can also correctly stand for the actual meaning corresponding to propositions with a coordinating conjunction such as ‘and’ to which the conjunction commutativity law does not seem, in principle, to apply. To do that, they do not have to significantly move away from classical logic, but only to add to the connectives in this last logic a modal operator akin to ‘Next’ in temporal logic, and this without the need to assume many more temporal logical elements.https://periodicos.ufpb.br/ojs2/index.php/arf/article/view/43729logicmental modelssemanticssyntaxtemporal operator
spellingShingle Miguel López-Astorga
The problem of the order of the conjuncts in the coordinating conjunction ‘and’: A logical-syntactic solution
Aufklärung
logic
mental models
semantics
syntax
temporal operator
title The problem of the order of the conjuncts in the coordinating conjunction ‘and’: A logical-syntactic solution
title_full The problem of the order of the conjuncts in the coordinating conjunction ‘and’: A logical-syntactic solution
title_fullStr The problem of the order of the conjuncts in the coordinating conjunction ‘and’: A logical-syntactic solution
title_full_unstemmed The problem of the order of the conjuncts in the coordinating conjunction ‘and’: A logical-syntactic solution
title_short The problem of the order of the conjuncts in the coordinating conjunction ‘and’: A logical-syntactic solution
title_sort problem of the order of the conjuncts in the coordinating conjunction and a logical syntactic solution
topic logic
mental models
semantics
syntax
temporal operator
url https://periodicos.ufpb.br/ojs2/index.php/arf/article/view/43729
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