Bounded Meaning: The Dynamics of Interpretation

Author:   Matthew Mandelkern (New York University)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press
ISBN:  

9780192870049


Pages:   304
Publication Date:   20 August 2024
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
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Bounded Meaning: The Dynamics of Interpretation


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Overview

Bounded Meaning investigates the dynamics of interpretation: how and why the interpretation of the building blocks of human language is sensitive, not just to the context in which the expression is used, but also to the expression's linguistic environmentDLin other words, how and why interpretation depends not just on global information, but also on local information. Matthew Mandelkern motivates a range of generalizations about the dynamics of interpretation, some known and some novel, involving modals, conditionals, and anaphora, and an overview of the best extant theory of those patterns, dynamic semantics, is provided. After bringing out the striking motivations and successes of that framework, the discussion turns to criticisms of dynamic semantics, focusing on its puzzling predictions about the logic of natural language. In response to these problems, Mandelkern develops a novel framework for explaining dynamic phenomena without dynamic semantics: the bounded theory of meaning. On the bounded theory, dynamic phenomena arise from the interaction of two dimensions of meaning. One dimension is a standard truth-conditional layer, which, relative to a context of use, associates each sentence with a proposition. The second dimension, the dimension of bounds, limits the admissible interpretations of an expression, relative to the expression's context of use and its local information. Bounds thus play an essential role in coordinating on the resolution of context-sensitive language, explaining dynamic effects in natural language while avoiding a variety of problematic predictions of dynamic semantics.

Full Product Details

Author:   Matthew Mandelkern (New York University)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press
Imprint:   Oxford University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 16.50cm , Height: 2.00cm , Length: 24.00cm
Weight:   0.616kg
ISBN:  

9780192870049


ISBN 10:   0192870041
Pages:   304
Publication Date:   20 August 2024
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Table of Contents

1: Introduction Part I: Modals and Conditionals 2: The Dynamics of Modality 3: The Dynamics of Conditionals 4: Against Dynamic Semantics 5: Bounded Modals and Conditionals Part II: Conditionals: Reasoning and Probability 6: Reasoning with Conditionals 7: Probabilities of Conditionals Part III: Anaphora 8: The Dynamics of Anaphora 9: Bounded Anaphora 10: Quantification and Subordination Part IV: Concluding 11: Local Contexts 12: Conclusion

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Author Information

Matthew Mandelkern is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at New York University. He received a PhD in Philosophy from MIT. He was a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford, 2017-2020. He works on the philosophy of language and its intersections with neighbouring fields.

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