5,523 research outputs found
Words by convention
Existing metasemantic projects presuppose that word- (or sentence-) types are part of the non-semantic base. We propose a new strategy: an endogenous account of word types, that is, one where word types are fixed as part of the metasemantics. On this view, it is the conventions of truthfulness and trust that ground not only the meaning of the words (meaning by convention) but also what the word type is of each particular token utterance (words by convention). The same treatment extends to identifying the populations through which the conventions prevail. We consider whether this proposal leads to new underdetermination challenges for metasemantics, and make a case that it does not
Probabilistic Approach to Epistemic Modals in the Framework of Dynamic Semantics
In dynamic semantics meaning of a statement is not equated with its truth
conditions but with its context change potential. It has also been claimed
that dynamic framework can automatically account for certain paradoxes
that involve epistemic modals, such as the following one: it seems odd and
incoherent to claim: (1) “It is raining and it might not rain”, whereas
claiming (2) “It might not rain and it is raining” does not seem equally odd
(Yalcin, 2007). Nevertheless, it seems that it cannot capture the fact that
statement (2) seems odd as well, even though not as odd as the statement
(1) (Gauker, 2007). I will argue that certain probabilistic extensions to the
dynamic model can account for this subtlety of our linguistic intuitions and
represent if not an improved than at least an alternative framework for
capturing the way contexts are updated and beliefs revised with uncertain
information.Numer został przygotowany przy wsparciu Ministerstwa Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego
Quantum Alternation: Prospects and Problems
We propose a notion of quantum control in a quantum programming language
which permits the superposition of finitely many quantum operations without
performing a measurement. This notion takes the form of a conditional construct
similar to the IF statement in classical programming languages. We show that
adding such a quantum IF statement to the QPL programming language simplifies
the presentation of several quantum algorithms. This motivates the possibility
of extending the denotational semantics of QPL to include this form of quantum
alternation. We give a denotational semantics for this extension of QPL based
on Kraus decompositions rather than on superoperators. Finally, we clarify the
relation between quantum alternation and recursion, and discuss the possibility
of lifting the semantics defined by Kraus operators to the superoperator
semantics defined by Selinger.Comment: In Proceedings QPL 2015, arXiv:1511.0118
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