Real conditionals
Editorial OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Espanya peninsular
- Editorial OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
- ISBN13 9780199285518
- ISBN10 0199285519
- Tipus Llibre
- Pàgines 223
- Any Edició 2005
- Encuadernació Rústica
Real conditionals
Editorial OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Espanya peninsular
Detalls del llibre
Philosophers and logicians have long debated how best to understand conditional or hypothetical sentences. William G. Lycan has a distinctive approach to this debate, attending not just to the semantics of such sentences, but equally to their syntax. He shows how insights from linguistic theory help to illuminate problems about the meaning and function of conditionals. For instance, philosophers and logicians have had problems analysing the locutions 'only if', 'unless', and 'even if'. Lycan sets out a general semantic theory of conditionals which works for all such sentences; he assigns meanings to them in a way that explains how and why those meanings depend upon features of utterance context. According to Lycan's theory the 'if'-clauses refer to items called 'events', 'circumstances', or 'conditions'. "Real Conditionals" gives at last the definitive presentation of this original approach to a topic at the intersection of philosophy, logic, and linguistics. Lycan's characteristically lively and witty expository style ensures that it can be enjoyed by readers from all three disciplines.