Homogeneity and identity
A solution to the problem of minimal parts
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22159382 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ellise Moon (0000-0002-9607-4834, University of Rochester, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 5965 |
| Publication date | 2025-06-25 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2473-8689 • E-ISSN: 2473-8689 |
| Publisher | Linguistic Society of America (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.3765/plsa.v10i1.5965 |
| OpenAlex | W4411668569 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 8 |
Plural and non-count nouns have been characterized as having homogeneous reference, the combination of the second-order properties of cumulative and divisive reference. Homogeneous reference is a useful property that captures similarities in the behavior of count plural and non-countable nouns. However, formal semantic definitions of divisive reference—the property that any part of what a noun refers to can also be referred to with that noun—run into the Problem of Minimal Parts. While both a portion of water and another portion of water that it is a part of can be referred to with the noun phrase water, both have parts such as hydrogen and oxygen atoms that are not water. This paper introduces a new formulation of homogeneous reference that avoids the Problem of Minimal Parts by making reference to the sum operation, rather than parthood relations
Aesthetics · Art · Statistics · History and Theory of Mathematics · Mathematics · semigroups and automata theory
| Highly cited | No |
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