Between logic and the world : an integrated theory of generics

Resource Information

The work Between logic and the world : an integrated theory of generics represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in European University Institute. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

Label

Between logic and the world : an integrated theory of generics

Title remainder

an integrated theory of generics

Statement of responsibility

Bernhard Nickel

Title variation

Between logic & the world

Creator

• Nickel, Bernhard

Subject

• Genericalness (Linguistics)
• Semantics (Philosophy)

Language

eng

Summary

Between Logic and the World presents a theory of generic sentences and the kind✹directed modes of thought they express. Generics are generalizations we use in the everyday and the higher-level sciences to encode much of our knowledge: Ravens are black, lions have manes, sea-turtles are long-lived, and bishops in chess move along diagonals. The theory closely integrates compositional semantics with metaphysics to solve the central problem that generics pose: what do generics mean? The book argues that generics are the top of a fundamentally explanatory iceberg. By focusing on blackness in ravens, manes in lions, etc., we can place the kinds into a framework structured by explanatory considerations. This explanatory framework is deeply intertwined with the semantics of the language we use to express them, and in giving its integrated semantic and metaphysical theory of generics, it aims to solve old puzzles and draw attention to new phenomena.--

Assigning source

Provided by publisher

Index

index present

Literary form

non fiction

Nature of contents

• dictionaries
• bibliography

Series statement

Oxford scholarship online.

Target audience

specialized