Presupposition
Presuppositions are a central problem in natural language semantics, which centers around two main questions:
- Triggering Problem: why are the inferences triggered by some expressions treated as presuppositions rather than, say, at-issue entailments?
- Projection Problem: how are the presuppositions of complex sentences inherited from the presuppositions of their component parts and the way they are put together?
Most research has centered on the Projection Problem. In the 1980’s, the analysis of ‘presupposition projection’ led to the development of a new and more powerful type of semantics, called ‘dynamic semantics’. In recent years, various alternatives (some of them pragmatic, some of them not) were developed within non-dynamic semantics. We will provide an introduction to this debate, first by developing an explicit dynamic semantics for presuppositions, and then by considering various alternatives to it, including ones developed within bivalent or trivalent logics. The database will include traditional data, experimental data, and also gestural inferences that enrich the debate (they pertain to presupposition-like inferences that are arguably triggered by co-speech gestures).
Mon Aug 5th | Tue Aug 6th | Wed Aug 7th | Thu Aug 8th | Fri Aug 9th | Mon Aug 12th | Tue Aug 13th | Wed Aug 14th | Thu Aug 15th | Fri Aug 16th |
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- Dynamic semantics |
- The Triggering Problem II |
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- Transparency-based accounts |
- Presuppositions vs. Cosuppositions |
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- Trivalent and other accounts |
- Conclusion |
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- The Projection Problem: problems, data, experiments |
- The Triggering Problem I |
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Mon Aug 5th | Tue Aug 6th | Wed Aug 7th | Thu Aug 8th | Fri Aug 9th | Mon Aug 12th | Tue Aug 13th | Wed Aug 14th | Thu Aug 15th | Fri Aug 16th |
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- Dynamic semantics |
- The Triggering Problem II |
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- Transparency-based accounts |
- Presuppositions vs. Cosuppositions |
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- Trivalent and other accounts |
- Conclusion |
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- The Projection Problem: problems, data, experiments |
- The Triggering Problem I |
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Mon Aug 5th
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The Projection Problem: problems, data, experiments
Tue Aug 6th
Wed Aug 7th
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Dynamic semantics
Thu Aug 8th
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Transparency-based accounts
Fri Aug 9th
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Trivalent and other accounts
Mon Aug 12th
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The Triggering Problem I
Tue Aug 13th
Wed Aug 14th
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The Triggering Problem II
Thu Aug 15th
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Presuppositions vs. Cosuppositions
Fri Aug 16th
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Conclusion