Modality

Modality
Title Modality PDF eBook
Author Paul Portner
Publisher Oxford University Press
Pages 301
Release 2009
Genre Computers
ISBN 0199292426

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This comprehensive review and critical synthesis of research on modality focuses on formal theories within linguistics and related aspects of philosophical logic. It will be welcomed by students of linguistics at graduate level and above, as well as by researchers in philosophy, computational science, and related fields.

Modality and Meaning

Modality and Meaning
Title Modality and Meaning PDF eBook
Author W.G. Lycan
Publisher Springer Science & Business Media
Pages 368
Release 1994-08-31
Genre Philosophy
ISBN 9780792330073

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Part I of this book presents a theory of modal metaphysics in the possible-worlds tradition. `Worlds' themselves are understood as structured sets of properties; this `Ersatzist' view is defended against its most vigorous competitors, Meinongianism and David Lewis' theory of existent concrete worlds. Related issues of essentialism and linguistic reference are explored. Part II takes up the question of lexical meaning in the context of possible-world semantics. There are skeptical analyses of analyticity and the notion of a logical constant; and an `infinite polysemy' thesis is defended. The book will be of particular interest to metaphysicians, possible-world semanticists, philosophers of language, and linguists concerned with lexical semantics.

English Modality

English Modality
Title English Modality PDF eBook
Author Juana I. Marín-Arrese
Publisher Walter de Gruyter
Pages 459
Release 2013-12-12
Genre Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN 3110286327

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The book presents new issues and areas of work in modality and evidentiality in English(es), and in relation to other European languages (French, Galician, Lithuanian, Spanish). Given the complexity of the relations among modal and evidential expressions, their constant diachronic evolution, and the variation found in different English-speaking areas, and in different genres and discourse domains, the volume addresses the following issues: the conceptual nature of modality, the relationship between the domains of modality and evidentiality, the evolution and current status of the modal auxiliaries and other modal expressions, the relationship with neighbouring grammatical categories (tense, aspect, mood), and the variation in different discourse domains and genres, in modelling stance and discourse identities.

What Tends to Be

What Tends to Be
Title What Tends to Be PDF eBook
Author Rani Lill Anjum
Publisher Routledge
Pages 194
Release 2018-05-11
Genre Philosophy
ISBN 1351009796

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People tend to enjoy listening to music or watching television, sleeping at night and celebrating birthdays. Plants tend to grow and thrive in sunlight and mild temperatures. We also know that tendencies are not perfectly regular and that there are patterns in the natural world, which are reliable to a degree, but not absolute. What should we make of a world where things tend to be one way but could be another? Is there a position between necessity and possibility? If there is, what are the implications for science, knowledge and ethics? This book explores these questions and is the first full-length treatment of the philosophy of tendencies. Anjum and Mumford argue that although the philosophical language of tendencies has been around since Aristotle, there has not been any serious commitment to the irreducible modality that they involve. They also argue that the acceptance of an irreducible and sui generis tendential modality ought to be the fundamental commitment of any genuine realism about dispositions or powers. It is the dispositional modality that makes dispositions authentically disposition-like. Armed with this theory the authors apply it to a variety of key philosophical topics such as chance, causation, epistemology and free will.

Williamson on Modality

Williamson on Modality
Title Williamson on Modality PDF eBook
Author Juhani Yli-Vakkuri
Publisher Routledge
Pages 452
Release 2018-10-18
Genre Philosophy
ISBN 1351730045

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Timothy Williamson is one of the most influential living philosophers working in the areas of logic and metaphysics. His work in these areas has been particularly influential in shaping debates about metaphysical modality, which is the topic of his recent provocative and closely-argued book Modal Logic as Metaphysics (2013). This book comprises ten essays by metaphysicians and logicians responding to Williamson’s work on metaphysical modality, as well as replies by Williamson to each essay. In addition, it contains an original essay by Williamson, ‘Modal science,’ concerning the role of modal claims in natural science. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Canadian Journal of Philosophy.

The Routledge Handbook of Modality

The Routledge Handbook of Modality
Title The Routledge Handbook of Modality PDF eBook
Author Otávio Bueno
Publisher Routledge
Pages 432
Release 2020-12-29
Genre Philosophy
ISBN 1317585283

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Modality - the question of what is possible and what is necessary - is a fundamental area of philosophy and philosophical research. The Routledge Handbook of Modality is an outstanding reference source to the key topics, problems and debates in this exciting subject and is the first collection of its kind. Comprising thirty-five chapters by a team of international contributors the Handbook is divided into seven clear parts: worlds and modality essentialism, ontological dependence, and modality modal anti-realism epistemology of modality modality in science modality in logic and mathematics modality in the history of philosophy. Within these sections the central issues, debates and problems are examined, including possible worlds, essentialism, counterfactuals, ontological dependence, modal fictionalism, deflationism, the integration challenge, conceivability, a priori knowledge, laws of nature, natural kinds, and logical necessity. The Routledge Handbook of Modality is essential reading for students and researchers in epistemology, metaphysics and philosophy of language. It will also be very useful for those in related fields in philosophy such as philosophy of mathematics, logic and philosophy of science.

Mood and Modality

Mood and Modality
Title Mood and Modality PDF eBook
Author Frank Robert Palmer
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Pages 262
Release 2001-04-16
Genre Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN 9780521804790

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Palmer investigates the category of modality, drawing on a wealth of examples from a wide variety of languages.