Counterfactual attitudes and multi-centered worlds
Counterfactual attitudes like imagining, dreaming, and wishing create a problem for the standard formal semantic theory of de re attitude ascriptions. I show how the problem can be avoided if we represent an agent's attitudinal possibilities using "multi-centered worlds", possible wo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Linguistic Society of America
2012-08-01
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| Series: | Semantics and Pragmatics |
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| Online Access: | http://semprag.org/article/view/2815 |
| _version_ | 1818020924524331008 |
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| author | Dilip Ninan |
| author_facet | Dilip Ninan |
| author_sort | Dilip Ninan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Counterfactual attitudes like imagining, dreaming, and wishing create a problem for the standard formal semantic theory of de re attitude ascriptions. I show how the problem can be avoided if we represent an agent's attitudinal possibilities using "multi-centered worlds", possible worlds with multiple distinguished individuals, each of which represents an individual with whom the agent is acquainted. I then present a compositional semantics for de re ascriptions according to which singular terms are "assignment-sensitive" expressions and attitude verbs are "assignment shifters".
http://dx.doi.org/10.3765/sp.5.5
<a href="http://semantics-online.org/sp-bib/ninan-2012-article.bib">BibTeX info</a> |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T08:12:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9d87186a0d6c4ffdbf13de9fe4ce60a5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1937-8912 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T08:12:01Z |
| publishDate | 2012-08-01 |
| publisher | Linguistic Society of America |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Semantics and Pragmatics |
| spelling | doaj.art-9d87186a0d6c4ffdbf13de9fe4ce60a52022-12-22T02:04:32ZengLinguistic Society of AmericaSemantics and Pragmatics1937-89122012-08-015015710.3765/sp.5.52500Counterfactual attitudes and multi-centered worldsDilip Ninan0Tufts UniversityCounterfactual attitudes like imagining, dreaming, and wishing create a problem for the standard formal semantic theory of de re attitude ascriptions. I show how the problem can be avoided if we represent an agent's attitudinal possibilities using "multi-centered worlds", possible worlds with multiple distinguished individuals, each of which represents an individual with whom the agent is acquainted. I then present a compositional semantics for de re ascriptions according to which singular terms are "assignment-sensitive" expressions and attitude verbs are "assignment shifters". http://dx.doi.org/10.3765/sp.5.5 <a href="http://semantics-online.org/sp-bib/ninan-2012-article.bib">BibTeX info</a>http://semprag.org/article/view/2815de se attitudes, de re attitudes, counterfactual attitudes, pronouns, proper names, presupposition |
| spellingShingle | Dilip Ninan Counterfactual attitudes and multi-centered worlds Semantics and Pragmatics de se attitudes, de re attitudes, counterfactual attitudes, pronouns, proper names, presupposition |
| title | Counterfactual attitudes and multi-centered worlds |
| title_full | Counterfactual attitudes and multi-centered worlds |
| title_fullStr | Counterfactual attitudes and multi-centered worlds |
| title_full_unstemmed | Counterfactual attitudes and multi-centered worlds |
| title_short | Counterfactual attitudes and multi-centered worlds |
| title_sort | counterfactual attitudes and multi centered worlds |
| topic | de se attitudes, de re attitudes, counterfactual attitudes, pronouns, proper names, presupposition |
| url | http://semprag.org/article/view/2815 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT dilipninan counterfactualattitudesandmulticenteredworlds |