60 research outputs found

    Epistemic Modality, Mind, and Mathematics

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    This book concerns the foundations of epistemic modality. I examine the nature of epistemic modality, when the modal operator is interpreted as concerning both apriority and conceivability, as well as states of knowledge and belief. The book demonstrates how epistemic modality relates to the computational theory of mind; metaphysical modality; the types of mathematical modality; to the epistemic status of large cardinal axioms, undecidable propositions, and abstraction principles in the philosophy of mathematics; to the modal profile of rational intuition; and to the types of intention, when the latter is interpreted as a modal mental state. Chapter \textbf{2} argues for a novel type of expressivism based on the duality between the categories of coalgebras and algebras, and argues that the duality permits of the reconciliation between modal cognitivism and modal expressivism. Chapter \textbf{3} provides an abstraction principle for epistemic intensions. Chapter \textbf{4} advances a topic-sensitive two-dimensional truthmaker semantics, and provides three novel interpretations of the framework along with the epistemic and metasemantic. Chapter \textbf{5} applies the fixed points of the modal μ\mu-calculus in order to account for the iteration of epistemic states, by contrast to availing of modal axiom 4 (i.e. the KK principle). Chapter \textbf{6} advances a solution to the Julius Caesar problem based on Fine's "criterial" identity conditions which incorporate conditions on essentiality and grounding. Chapter \textbf{7} provides a ground-theoretic regimentation of the proposals in the metaphysics of consciousness and examines its bearing on the two-dimensional conceivability argument against physicalism. The topic-sensitive epistemic two-dimensional truthmaker semantics developed in chapter \textbf{4} is availed of in order for epistemic states to be a guide to metaphysical states in the hyperintensional setting. Chapter \textbf{8} examines the modal commitments of abstractionism, in particular necessitism, and epistemic modality and the epistemology of abstraction. Chapter \textbf{9} examines the modal profile of Ω\Omega-logic in set theory. Chapter \textbf{10} examines the interaction between epistemic two-dimensional truthmaker semantics, epistemic set theory, and absolute decidability. Chapter \textbf{11} avails of modal coalgebraic automata to interpret the defining properties of indefinite extensibility, and avails of epistemic two-dimensional semantics in order to account for the interaction of the interpretational and objective modalities thereof. The hyperintensional, topic-sensitive epistemic two-dimensional truthmaker semantics developed in chapter \textbf{2} is applied in chapters \textbf{7}, \textbf{8}, \textbf{10}, and \textbf{11}. Chapter \textbf{12} provides a modal logic for rational intuition and provides four models of hyperintensional semantics. Chapter \textbf{13} examines modal responses to the alethic paradoxes. Chapter \textbf{14} examines, finally, the modal semantics for the different types of intention and the relation of the latter to evidential decision theory

    Dualities in modal logic

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    Categorical dualities are an important tool in the study of (modal) logics. They offer conceptual understanding and enable the transfer of results between the different semantics of a logic. As such, they play a central role in the proofs of completeness theorems, Sahlqvist theorems and Goldblatt-Thomason theorems. A common way to obtain dualities is by extending existing ones. For example, Jonsson-Tarski duality is an extension of Stone duality. A convenient formalism to carry out such extensions is given by the dual categorical notions of algebras and coalgebras. Intuitively, these allow one to isolate the new part of a duality from the existing part. In this thesis we will derive both existing and new dualities via this route, and we show how to use the dualities to investigate logics. However, not all (modal logical) paradigms fit the (co)algebraic perspective. In particular, modal intuitionistic logics do not enjoy a coalgebraic treatment, and there is a general lack of duality results for them. To remedy this, we use a generalisation of both algebras and coalgebras called dialgebras. Guided by the research field of coalgebraic logic, we introduce the framework of dialgebraic logic. We show how a large class of modal intuitionistic logics can be modelled as dialgebraic logics and we prove dualities for them. We use the dialgebraic framework to prove general completeness, Hennessy-Milner, representation and Goldblatt-Thomason theorems, and instantiate this to a wide variety of modal intuitionistic logics. Additionally, we use the dialgebraic perspective to investigate modal extensions of the meet-implication fragment of intuitionistic logic. We instantiate general dialgebraic results, and describe how modal meet-implication logics relate to modal intuitionistic logics
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