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DEMONSTRATIVES IN LOGIC AND NATURAL LANGUAGE
by
Geoffrey B. Georgi
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(PHILOSOPHY)
August 2011
Copyright 2011 Geoffrey B. Georgi
Object Description
| Title | Demonstratives in logic and natural language |
| Author | Georgi, Geoffrey B. |
| Author email | ggeorgi@usc.edu;gbgeorgi@gmail.com |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Philosophy |
| School | College of Letters, Arts And Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2011-05-04 |
| Date submitted | 2011-07-28 |
| Date approved | 2011-07-28 |
| Restricted until | 2011-07-28 |
| Date published | 2011-07-28 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Soames, Scott |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Higginbotham, James Schein, Barry |
| Abstract | In this dissertation, I provide (i) a semantics for simple and complex singular demonstratives in English, (ii) a theory of how the reference of a referential use of a singular demonstrative is determined in the context of the use, and (iii) a logic of demonstratives that allows us to accurately represent our reasoning with demonstratives. The last project requires rejecting David Kaplan's original definitions of validity and logical truth for languages containing context-sensitive expressions; according to the alternative I propose, a sentence $\phi$ can be logically true, or an argument valid, relative to one context but not another. This allows us to explain why we can use an argument containing demonstratives in one situation and seem to reason well, but use the same argument in a different situation and seem to reason poorly. Crucial to this view is to recognise the distinction between referential and non-referential uses of demonstratives, where referential uses are distinguished by a particular kind of referential intention with which the speaker uses the demonstrative. The semantic theory I propose accounts for both standard referential uses and deferred referential uses of demonstratives, while preserving the classic intuitions about direct reference for standard uses. I defend this semantic proposal against several objections and compare it to the most important alternatives currently available in the linguistic and philosophical literature. |
| Keyword | demonstratives; reference; logic; semantics |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Georgi, Geoffrey B. |
| Physical access | The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given. |
| Repository name | University of Southern California Digital Library |
| Repository address | USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 7002, 106 University Village, Los Angeles, California 90089-7002, USA |
| Repository email | cisadmin@dots.usc.edu |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume71/etd-GeorgiGeof-197.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@dots.usc.edu |
| Full text | DEMONSTRATIVES IN LOGIC AND NATURAL LANGUAGE by Geoffrey B. Georgi A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (PHILOSOPHY) August 2011 Copyright 2011 Geoffrey B. Georgi |
