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51SynonymyIn Alessandro Capone, Roberto Graci & Pietro Perconti (eds.), New Frontiers in Pragmalinguistic Studies, Springer Nature. forthcoming.Alonzo Church provided three criteria for “strict synonymy”, i.e., sameness of semantic content: Alternatives (0), (1), and (2)--in order of increasing course-grainedness of content. On (2) expressions are strictly synonymous iff they are logically equivalent. (1) is a significant improvement over (2). On (1) expressions are synonymous iff they are lambda-convertible. Even on (1), assuming the Millian account of proper names, ‘Tully admires Cicero’ is deemed synonymous with ‘Cicero is self-admir…Read more
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102Sleeping Beauty: Awakenings, Chance, Secrets, and VideoIn Alessandro Capone, Roberto Graci & Pietro Perconti (eds.), New Frontiers in Pragmalinguistic Studies, Springer Nature. forthcoming.A new philosophical analysis is provided of the notorious Sleeping Beauty Problem. It is argued that the correct solution is one-third, but not in the way previous philosophers have typically meant this. A modified version of the Problem demonstrates that neither self-locating information nor amnesia is relevant to the core Problem, which is simply to evaluate the conditional chance of heads given an undated Monday-or-Tuesday awakening. Previous commentators have failed to appreciate the signifi…Read more
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28Relational BeliefIn Paolo Leonardi & Marco Santambrogio (eds.), On Quine: New Essays, Cambridge University Press. pp. 206-228. 1995.
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9Relational BeliefIn Paolo Leonardi & Marco Santambrogio (eds.), On Quine: New Essays, Cambridge University Press. pp. 206-228. 1995.
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Three Perspectives on Quantifying InIn Robin Jeshion (ed.), New Essays on Singular Thought, Oxford University Press. pp. 64. 2010.
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958Singular ConceptsSynthese. forthcoming.Toward a theory of n-tuples of individuals and concepts as surrogates for Russellian singular propositions and singular concepts. Alonzo Church proposed a powerful and elegant theory of sequences of functions and their arguments as singular-concept surrogates. Church’s account accords with his Alternative (0), the strictest of his three competing criteria for strict synonymy. The currently popular objection to strict criteria like (0) on the basis of the Russell-Myhill paradox is misguided. Russ…Read more
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299Sleeping Beauty: Awakenings, Chance, Secrets, and VideoIn Alessandro Capone, Pietro Perconti & Roberto Graci (eds.), Philosophy, Cognition and Pragmatics, Springer Nature Switzerland. pp. 53-65. 2024.A new philosophical analysis is provided of the notorious Sleeping Beauty Problem. It is argued that the correct solution is one-third, but not in the way previous philosophers have typically meant this. A modified version of the Problem demonstrates that neither self-locating information nor amnesia is relevant to the core Problem, which is simply to evaluate the conditional chance of heads given an undated Monday-or-Tuesday awakening. Previous commentators have failed to appreciate the signifi…Read more
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176SynonymyIn Alessandro Capone, Pietro Perconti & Roberto Graci (eds.), Philosophy, Cognition and Pragmatics, Springer Nature Switzerland. pp. 45-52. 2024.Alonzo Church famously provided three principal competing criteria for “strict synonymy,” i.e., sameness of semantic content. These are his Alternatives (0), (1), and (2)—numbered in order of increasing course-grainedness of content. On Alternative (2), expressions are deemed strictly synonymous iff they are logically equivalent. This criterion seems hopeless as an account of the objects of propositional attitude. On Alternative (1), expressions are deemed synonymous iff they are λ-convertible. …Read more
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An alternative to the classical Stalnaker-Lewis account of subjunctive conditionals is outlined. A distinction is drawn between a basic notion of “wouldness” and a more full-bloodedly modal variant, each with its own logic. Previous philosophers have challenged the alleged vacuity of counterpossibles using logico-mathematically impossible worlds. Here the vacuity thesis as well as other orthodox alleged logical principles are challenged instead through consideration of a logico-mathematically po…Read more
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194Fictitious Existence versus NonexistenceGrazer Philosophische Studien. forthcoming.A correct observation to the effect that a does not exist, where ‘a’ is a singular term, could be true on any of a variety of grounds. Typically, a true, singular negative existential is true on the unproblematic ground that the subject term ‘a’ designates something that does not presently exist. More interesting philosophically is a singular, negative existential statement in which the subject term ‘a’ designates nothing at all. Both of these contrast sharply with a singular, negative existenti…Read more
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The debate over whether the basic principles of Frege's philosophy of semantics committed him to the hierarchy of indirect senses is adjudicated. It is demonstrated by means of a simple device that Frege was indeed committed to the hierarchy.
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86Introduction to Propositions and AttitudesIn Nathan U. Salmon & Scott Soames (eds.), _Propositions and Attitudes_, Oxford University Press. pp. 1-15. 1988.
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6Foreword to Matthew Davidson, ed., On Sense and Direct ReferenceIn Matthew Davidson (ed.), On Sense and Direct Reference, Mcgraw-hill. 2007.
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271A collection of ten previously published essays on existence, nonexistence, empty names, fiction and myth, and free logic.
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219The dogma that the propositional logic of metaphysical modality is S5 is rebutted in related installments (previously published and unpublished essays).
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From Frege's Puzzle (excerpts 3) (6th ed.)In Aloysius Martinich (ed.), The philosophy of language, Oxford University Press. pp. 86-102. 2006.
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Frege's Puzzle (excerpts 2)In Darragh Byrne & Max Kölbel (eds.), Arguing about language, Routledge. pp. 56-71. 2010.
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Frege's Puzzle (excerpts 1)In Robert M. Harnish (ed.), Basic Topics in the Philosophy of Language, Pearson College Division. pp. 447-489. 1994.
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Die Krux von Freges RätselIn Mark Textor (ed.), _Neue Theorien der Referenz_, Mentis. pp. 60-71. 2004.German translation of Nathan Salmon, "The Crux of Frege's Puzzle"
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Wie man ein Millianer wirdIn Mark Textor (ed.), _Neue Theorien der Referenz_, Mentis. pp. 38-47. 2004.German translation of Nathan Salmon, "How to Become a Millian Heir"
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Reference and Essence, Korean translationHankook Publishing Company. 2000.Korean translation of the 1st edition of Nathan Salmon, _Reference and Essence_.
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191The theory that Kit Fine calls 'semantic relationism' replaces standard semantic compositionality with an alternative according to which statements of the form '... A … A ...’ and ‘... A … B ...’ (e.g., ‘Cicero admires Cicero’ and ‘Cicero admires Tully’) differ in semantic content—even where the two terms involved are exactly synonymous—simply in virtue of the recurrence that is present in the former statement and absent from the latter. A semantic-relationist alternative to standard composition…Read more
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106Interview with Nathan Salmon, Univeristy of California, Santa BarbaraYale Philosophy Review 2008 (4): 78-90. 2008.
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79Naming and Non-necessityIn Andrea Bianchi (ed.), Language and reality from a naturalistic perspective: Themes from Michael Devitt, Springer. pp. 237-248. 2020.Kripke’s examples of allegedly contingent a priori sentences include ‘Stick S is exactly one meter long’, where the reference of ‘meter’ is fixed by the description ‘the length of stick S’. In response to skepticism concerning apriority Kripke replaced the meter sentence with a more sophisticated variant, arguing that the modified example is more immune to such skepticism. The case for apriority is examined. A distinction is drawn between apriority and a broader notion, “qua-priority,” of a trut…Read more
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111Metaphysics, Mathematics, and Meaning: Philosophical Papers I (edited book)Oxford University Press. 2005.Metaphysics, Mathematics, and Meaning brings together Nathan Salmon's influential papers on topics in the metaphysics of existence, non-existence, and fiction; modality and its logic; strict identity, including personal identity; numbers and numerical quantifiers; the philosophical significance of Godel's Incompleteness theorems; and semantic content and designation. Including a previously unpublished essay and a helpful new introduction to orient the reader, the volume offers rich and varied su…Read more
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Philosophy of Language, Misc |
Metaphysics |
Philosophy of Language |
Logic and Philosophy of Logic, Misc |
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Logic in Philosophy |