Generics

Some (non) specifics

Dados Bibliográficos

ID10809268
AutoresAnne Bosse (0000-0001-9123-8193, University of Cambridge, autor correspondente)
Ano2021
Volume199
Fascículo5-6
Páginas14383-14401
Data de publicação2021-12-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoSynthese (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0039-7857 • E-ISSN: 1573-0964
EditoraSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s11229-021-03426-8
OpenAlexW3210945730
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas4
Referências citadas41

This paper is about an underappreciated aspect of generics: their non-specificity. Many uses of generics, utterances like ‘Seagulls swoop down to steal food’, express non-specific generalisations which do not specify their quantificational force or flavour. I consider whether this non-specificity arises as a by-product of context-sensitivity or semantic incompleteness but argue instead that generics semantically express non-specific generalisations by default as a result of quantifying existentially over more specific ones

Context (archaeology) · Epistemology · Linguistics · Metaphysics · Natural language processing · Philosophy of language · Philosophy of science · Product (mathematics) · Programming language · Semantics (computer science) · Computer Science · Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics · History · Mathematics · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science · Philosophy and Theoretical Science