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Underlying states and time travelIn James Higginbotham, Fabio Pianesi & Achille C. Varzi (eds.), Speaking of events, Oxford University Press. 2000.I begin by sketching a theory about the semantics of verbs in event sentences, and the evidence on which that theory is based. In the second section, I discuss the evidence for extending that theory to state sentences, including copulative sentences with adjectives and nouns; the evidence for this extension of the theory is not very good. In the third section, I discuss new evidence based on considerations of talk about time travel; that evidence is apparently quite good. I conclude with a probl…Read more
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19An Analysis of Mass Terms and Amount TermsFoundations of Language 6 (3): 362-388. 1970.Methods of representing sentences containing mass terms (e.g. "gold") and amount terms (e.g. "three gallons") within the predicate calculus are given, and the semantics of the resulting sentences is discussed. the appendix sketches a way to systematically translate english sentences into the logical notation, exploiting some results of transformational grammar
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275A Meinongian Analysis of Fictional ObjectsGrazer Philosophische Studien 1 (1): 73-86. 1975.This paper explores the view that there are such things as (nonexistent) fictional objects, and that we refer to such objects when we say things like "Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective", or "Conan Doyle wrote about Sherlock Holmes". A theory of such objects is developed as a special application of a Meinongian Ontology.
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Billingham and Buridan on the foundations of syllogistic reasoningIn Christoph Kann, Benedikt Löewe, Christian Rode & Sara Liana Uckelman (eds.), Modern views of medieval logic, Peeters. 2018.
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38 The Power of Medieval LogicIn Charles Bolyard & Rondo Keele (eds.), Later Medieval Metaphysics: Ontology, Language, and Logic, Fordham University Press. pp. 188-205. 2013.
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93A course in semanticsMIT Press. 2019.An introductory text in linguistic semantics, uniquely balancing empirical coverage and formalism with development of intuition and methodology. This introductory textbook in linguistic semantics for undergraduates features a unique balance between empirical coverage and formalism on the one hand and development of intuition and methodology on the other. It will equip students to form intuitions about a set of data, explain how well an analysis of the data accords with their intuitions, and exte…Read more
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20Formal Philosophy: Selected Papers of Richard Montague (review)Journal of Philosophy 72 (7): 196-203. 1975.
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50A Meinongian Analysis of Fictional ObjectsGrazer Philosophische Studien 1 (1): 73-86. 1975.This paper explores the view that there are such things as (nonexistent) fictional objects, and that we refer to such objects when we say things like "Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective", or "Conan Doyle wrote about Sherlock Holmes". A theory of such objects is developed as a special application of a Meinongian Ontology.
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21X*—Worldly Indeterminacy of IdentityProceedings of the Aristotelian Society 95 (1): 171-192. 1995.Terence Parsons, Peter Woodruff; X*—Worldly Indeterminacy of Identity, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Volume 95, Issue 1, 1 June 1995, Pages 171–192
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35Exploring Meinong's Jungle and Beyond by Richard Routley (review)Journal of Philosophy 80 (3): 173-179. 1983.
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15Russell's Early Views on DenotingIn D. F. Austin (ed.), Philosophical Analysis, Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 17--44. 1988.
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179Frege's Hierarchies of Indirect Senses and the Paradox of AnalysisMidwest Studies in Philosophy 6 (1): 37-58. 1981.
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75Some problems concerning the logic of grammatical modifiersSynthese 21 (3-4). 1970.This paper consists principally of selections from a much longer work on the semantics of English. It discusses some problems concerning how to represent grammatical modifiers (e.g. slowly in x drives slowly) in a logically perspicuous notation. A proposal of Reichenbach's is given and criticized; then a new theory (apparently discovered independently by myself, Romain Clark, and Richard Montague and Hans Kamp) is given, in which grammatical modifiers are represented by operators added to a firs…Read more
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24Peter of Spain: Summaries of Logic: Text, Translation, Introduction, and Notes (edited book)Oxford University Press. 2013.For nearly four centuries Peter of Spain's influential Summaries of Logic was the basis for teaching logic; few university texts were read by more people. This new translation presents the Latin and English on facing pages, and comes with an extensive introduction, chapter-by-chapter analysis, notes, and a full bibliography.
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70Meinongian Semantics GeneralizedGrazer Philosophische Studien 50 (1): 145-161. 1995.It is tempting to think that Meinong overlooked the "specific/nonspecific" distinction. For example, 'I am looking for a grey horse' may either mean that there is a specific horse I am looking for (e.g. one I lost), or just that I am grey-horse-seeking. The former reading, and not the latter, requires for its truth that there be a grey horse. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether it is defensible to maintain Meinong's theory here: to take nonspecific reading of any verb concerning …Read more
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19Higher-order sensesIn Joseph Almog & Paolo Leonardi (eds.), The philosophy of David Kaplan, Oxford University Press. pp. 45. 2010.
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201Why Frege Should Not Have Said "The Concept Horse is Not a Concept"History of Philosophy Quarterly 3 (4). 1986.Frege held various views about language and its relation to non-linguistic things. These views led him to the paradoxical-sounding conclusion that "the concept horse is NOT a concept." A key assumption that led him to say this is the assumption that phrases beginning with the definite article "the" denote objects, not concepts. In sections I-III this issue is explained. In sections IV-V Frege's theory is articulated, and it is shown that he was incorrect in thinking that this theory led to the c…Read more
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30Treatise on Consequences by John BuridanJournal of the History of Philosophy 54 (1): 163-164. 2016.John Buridan was the greatest of the medieval logicians. His massive logical text, the Summulae de Dialectica, has been available in a first rate English translation for well over a decade. Now it is joined by his other major logical work, the Treatise on Consequences. The translation provided here runs about a hundred pages. Chapters 1 and 3 concern consequences involving non-modal propositions, and chapters 2 and 4 concern modals. Buridan is a very clear writer, and Read has provided a transla…Read more
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Areas of Specialization
Logic and Philosophy of Logic |
Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy |
Areas of Interest
Logic and Philosophy of Logic |
Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy |