Gómez Álvarez, L and Bennett, B (2018) Dealing with conceptual indeterminacy: A framework based on supervaluation semantics. In: Joint Proceedings of MedRACER and WOMoCoE 2018. 3rd International Workshop on Ontology Modularity, Contextuality, and Evolution (WOMoCoE 2018), 29 Oct 2018, Tempe, Arizona. CEUR-WS.org , pp. 38-50.
Abstract
It is widely accepted that most natural language terms do not have precise universally agreed definitions that fix their meanings. Instead, humans use terms in a variety of ways that adapt to different contexts and points of view. In this paper we present a framework based on Supervaluation Semantics for interpreting languages in the presence of semantic variability. This work builds on supervaluationist accounts, which explain linguistic indeterminacy in terms of a collection of possible precise interpretations of the terms of the language. We extend the basic supervaluation semantics by adding the notion of standpoint.
A multi-modal logical language for describing standpoints is presented. The language includes a modal operator ⬜s for each standpoint s, such that ⬜s φ means that proposition φ is unequivocally true according to standpoint s — i.e. φ is true at all precisifications compatible with s. We show how it can be used to represent logical properties and connections between alternative ways of describing a domain and different accounts of the semantics of terms.
Metadata
Item Type: | Proceedings Paper |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2018 for the individual papers by the papers' authors. Copying permitted for private and academic purposes. This volume is published and copyrighted by its editors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
Keywords: | Supervaluation Semantics; Modal logics; Vagueness; Multimodal logics |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Computing (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 09 Oct 2019 14:14 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2023 22:01 |
Published Version: | http://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2237/ |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | CEUR-WS.org |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:151955 |