Logical Form, Conditionals, Pseudo-Conditionals
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/LLP.2024.004Abstract
This paper raises some questions about the formalization of sentences containing ‘if’ or similar expressions. In particular, it focuses on three kinds of sentences that resemble conditionals in some respects but exhibit distinctive logical features that deserve separate consideration: whether-or-not sentences, biscuit conditionals, and concessive conditionals. As will be suggested, the examples discussed show in different ways that an adequate formalization of a sentence must take into account the content expressed by the sentence. This upshot is arguably what one should expect on the view that logical form is determined by truth conditions.
References
Adams, E. W., 1965, “The logic of conditionals”, Inquiry 8: 166–197.
Austin, J. L., 1961, “Ifs and cans”, pages 153–180 in J. O. Urmson and G. J. Warnock (eds.), Philosophical Papers, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Bennett, J., 1982, “ “Even if” ”, Linguistics and Philosophy 5: 403–418.
Bennett, J., 2003, A Philosophical Guide to Conditionals, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Crupi, V., and A. Iacona, 2022, “On the logical form of concessive conditionals”, Journal of Philosophical Logic 51 (3): 633–651. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10992-021-09645-1
De Rose, K., and R. E. Grandy, 1999, “Assertions and “biscuit” conditionals”, Noüs 33: 405–420.
Gärdenfors, P., 1988, Knowledge in Flux, Boston: MIT Press.
Gomes, G., 2019, “Meaning-preserving contraposition of conditionals”, Journal of Pragmatics 152: 46–60.
Gomes, G., 2020, “Concessive conditionals without Even if and nonconcessive conditionals with Even if ”, Acta Analytica 35: 1–21.
Grice, P., 1975, “Logic and conversation”, pages 41–58 in P. Cole and J. L. Morgan (eds.), Syntax and Semantics, 3, Academic Press.
Hunter, G., 1993, “The meaning of ‘if’ in conditional propositions”, Philosophical Quarterly 43: 279–297.
Iacona, A., 2018, Logical Form: Between Logic and Natural Language, Cham: Springer. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74154-3
König, E., 1986, “Conditionals, concessive conditionals and concessives: Areas of contrast, overlap and neutralization”, in C. E. Traugott et al. (eds.) On conditionals, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lewis, D., 1973, Counterfactuals, Oxford: Blackwell.
Lycan, W. G., 1991, “Even and Even if ”, Linguistics and Philosophy 14: 115–150.
Lycan, W. G., 2001, Real Conditionals, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
McCawley, J. D., 1993, Everything that Linguists Have Always Wanted to Know about Logic but Were Ashamed to Ask, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Pollock, J. L. 1976, Subjunctive Reasoning, Dordrecht: Reidel.
Predelli, S., 2009, “Towards a semantics for biscuit conditionals”, Philosophical Studies 142 (3): 293–305. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11098-007-9187-8
Raidl, E., A. Iacona and V. Crupi, 2023, “An axiom system for concessive conditionals”, Studia Logica. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11225-022-10034-1
Russell, B., 1905, “On denoting”, Mind 14: 479–493.
Siegel, M. E. A., 2006, “Quantification over potential literal acts”, Linguistics and Philosophy 29: 167–203.
Stalnaker, R., 1991, “A theory of conditionals”, pages 28–45 in F. Jackson (ed.), Conditionals, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Vidal, M., 2017, “A compositional semantics for ‘even if’ conditionals”, Logic and Logical Philosophy 26 (2): 237–276. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12775/LLP.2016.031
Zakkou, J., 2017, “Biscuit conditionals and prohibited ‘then’ ”, Thought: A Journal of Philosophy 6 (2): 84–92. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/tht3.235
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Andrea Iacona
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Stats
Number of views and downloads: 599
Number of citations: 0
