210 research outputs found
Against Preservation
Bradley offers a quick and convincing argument that no Boolean semantic theory for conditionals can validate a very natural principle concerning the relationship between credences and conditionals. We argue that Bradleyâs principle, Preservation, is, in fact, invalid; its appeal arises from the validity of a nearby, but distinct, principle, which we call Local Preservation, and which Boolean semantic theories can non-trivially validate
Counterfactual Skepticism and Multidimensional Semantics
It has recently been argued that indeterminacy and indeterminism make most ordinary counterfactuals false. I argue that a plausible way to avoid such counterfactual skepticism is to postulate the existence of primitive modal facts that serve as truth-makers for counterfactual claims. Moreover, I defend a new theory of âmightâ counterfactuals, and develop assertability and knowledge criteria to suit such unobservable âcounterfactsâ
Could it be the case that if I am right my opponents will be pleased? A rejoinder to Johnson-Laird, Byrne and Girotto
I take up the four issues considered by Johnson-Laird, Byrne and Girotto in their reply to Politzer (2007). Based on the conceptual clarification which they adduce, it seems that the disagreement can be settled about the first one (truth functionality) and can be attenuated about the second one (the paradoxes of material implication). However, I maintain and refine my criticisms on the last two (negation and the probability of conditionals), backed up by considerations borrowed from the perspective of the conditional probability semantics for conditionals
Simple Conditionals with Constrained Right Weakening
In this paper we introduce and investigate a very basic semantics for conditionals that can be used to define a broad class of conditional reasoning systems. We show that it encompasses the most popular kinds of conditional reasoning developed in logic-based KR. It turns out that the semantics we propose is appropriate for a structural analysis of those conditionals that do not satisfy the property of Right Weakening. We show that it can be used for the further development of an analysis of the notion of relevance in conditional reasoning
The spectre of triviality
A spectre haunts the semantics of natural language â the spectre of Triviality. Semanticists (in particular Rothschild 2013; Khoo and Mandelkern 2018a,b) have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre. None, I will argue, have yet succeeded
Non-Analytic Tableaux for Chellas's Conditional Logic CK and Lewis's Logic of Counterfactuals VC
Priest has provided a simple tableau calculus for Chellas's conditional logic Ck. We provide rules which, when added to Priest's system, result in tableau calculi for Chellas's CK and Lewis's VC. Completeness of these tableaux, however, relies on the cut rule
Experimenting with (Conditional) Perfection
Conditional perfection is the phenomenon in which conditionals are strengthened to biconditionals. In some contexts, âIf A, Bâ is understood as if it meant âA if and only if B.â We present and discuss a series of experiments designed to test one of the most promising pragmatic accounts of conditional perfection. This is the idea that conditional perfection is a form of exhaustificationâthat is a strengthening to an exhaustive reading, triggered by a question that the conditional answers. If a speaker is asked how B comes about, then the answer âIf A, Bâ is interpreted exhaustively to meaning that A is the only way to bring about B. Hence, âA if and only if B.â We uncover evidence that conditional perfection is a form of exhaustification, but not that it is triggered by a relationship to a salient question
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