Indicative Conditionals in Objective Contexts

Bibliographic Data

ID20142124
AuthorsVít Punčochář (0000-0003-2198-4574, Czech Academy of Sciences), Christopher Gauker (0000-0002-7940-2760, University of Salzburg)
Year2020
Volume86
Issue5
Pages651-687
Publication date2020-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueTheoria (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0040-5825 • E-ISSN: 1755-2567
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/theo.12277
OpenAlexW3097400491
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited27

A‐62 conversation can be conceived as aiming to circumscribe a set of possibilities that are relevant to the goals of the conversation. This set of possibilities may be conceived as determined by the goals and objective circumstances of the interlocutors and not by their propositional attitudes. An indicative conditional can be conceived as circumscribing a set of possibilities that have a certain property: If the set of relevant possibilities is subsequently restricted to one in which the antecedent holds, then it will be restricted as well to one in which the consequent holds. We will identify a number of desiderata concerning the validity of arguments; we will develop a formally precise semantics for conditionals conceived in this way that satisfies the desiderata, and we will present a deductive calculus that is sound and complete with respect to the semantics. Finally, we will argue that the semantics compares well, both formally and foundationally, with two other semantic theories of indicative conditionals that satisfy the desiderata, namely, those of Gillies and Bledin

Antecedent (behavioral psychology) · Conversation · Epistemology · Linguistics · Possible world · Programming language · Property (philosophy) · Semantics (computer science) · Set (abstract data type) · Advanced Algebra and Logic · Computer Science · Logic, programming, and type systems · Logic, Reasoning, and Knowledge · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology