Rational Interpretation of Numerical Quantity in Argumentative Contexts
Numerical descriptions furnish us with an apparently precise and objective way of summarising complex datasets. In practice, the issue is less clear-cut, partly because the use of numerical expressions in natural language invites inferences that go beyond their mathematical meaning, and consequently...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Communication |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2021.662027/full |
| _version_ | 1818865564544663552 |
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| author | Chris Cummins Michael Franke |
| author_facet | Chris Cummins Michael Franke |
| author_sort | Chris Cummins |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Numerical descriptions furnish us with an apparently precise and objective way of summarising complex datasets. In practice, the issue is less clear-cut, partly because the use of numerical expressions in natural language invites inferences that go beyond their mathematical meaning, and consequently quantitative descriptions can be true but misleading. This raises important practical questions for the hearer: how should they interpret a quantitative description that is being used to further a particular argumentative agenda, and to what extent should they treat it as a good argument for a particular conclusion? In this paper, we discuss this issue with reference to notions of argumentative strength, and consider the strategy that a rational hearer should adopt in interpreting quantitative information that is being used argumentatively by the speaker. We exemplify this with reference to United Kingdom universities’ reporting of their REF 2014 evaluations. We argue that this reporting is typical of argumentative discourse involving quantitative information in two important respects. Firstly, a hearer must take into account the speaker’s agenda in order not to be misled by the information provided; but secondly, the speaker’s choice of utterance is typically suboptimal in its argumentative strength, and this creates a considerable challenge for accurate interpretation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T10:49:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9febe43274e244039859faed39563451 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2297-900X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T10:49:33Z |
| publishDate | 2021-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Communication |
| spelling | doaj.art-9febe43274e244039859faed395634512022-12-21T20:25:04ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Communication2297-900X2021-05-01610.3389/fcomm.2021.662027662027Rational Interpretation of Numerical Quantity in Argumentative ContextsChris Cummins0Michael Franke1Linguistics and English Language, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United KingdomInstitute for Cognitive Science, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, GermanyNumerical descriptions furnish us with an apparently precise and objective way of summarising complex datasets. In practice, the issue is less clear-cut, partly because the use of numerical expressions in natural language invites inferences that go beyond their mathematical meaning, and consequently quantitative descriptions can be true but misleading. This raises important practical questions for the hearer: how should they interpret a quantitative description that is being used to further a particular argumentative agenda, and to what extent should they treat it as a good argument for a particular conclusion? In this paper, we discuss this issue with reference to notions of argumentative strength, and consider the strategy that a rational hearer should adopt in interpreting quantitative information that is being used argumentatively by the speaker. We exemplify this with reference to United Kingdom universities’ reporting of their REF 2014 evaluations. We argue that this reporting is typical of argumentative discourse involving quantitative information in two important respects. Firstly, a hearer must take into account the speaker’s agenda in order not to be misled by the information provided; but secondly, the speaker’s choice of utterance is typically suboptimal in its argumentative strength, and this creates a considerable challenge for accurate interpretation.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2021.662027/fullpragmatic inferenceargumentative language usenon-cooperative dialogueargument strengthinformation selectionquantity expressions |
| spellingShingle | Chris Cummins Michael Franke Rational Interpretation of Numerical Quantity in Argumentative Contexts Frontiers in Communication pragmatic inference argumentative language use non-cooperative dialogue argument strength information selection quantity expressions |
| title | Rational Interpretation of Numerical Quantity in Argumentative Contexts |
| title_full | Rational Interpretation of Numerical Quantity in Argumentative Contexts |
| title_fullStr | Rational Interpretation of Numerical Quantity in Argumentative Contexts |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rational Interpretation of Numerical Quantity in Argumentative Contexts |
| title_short | Rational Interpretation of Numerical Quantity in Argumentative Contexts |
| title_sort | rational interpretation of numerical quantity in argumentative contexts |
| topic | pragmatic inference argumentative language use non-cooperative dialogue argument strength information selection quantity expressions |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2021.662027/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT chriscummins rationalinterpretationofnumericalquantityinargumentativecontexts AT michaelfranke rationalinterpretationofnumericalquantityinargumentativecontexts |