X-Git-Url: http://lambda.jimpryor.net/git/gitweb.cgi?p=lambda.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=topics%2Fweek1_order.mdwn;h=02ed4836700b6009e5168466edc3192c89c3ef68;hp=2a54503c18ce372d408a817c68ba666edc8c493a;hb=e4595e108f35403bf2981994630db604037c7575;hpb=a7c26ba13dbf72718f66e8814f4cf74ec4647000 diff --git a/topics/week1_order.mdwn b/topics/week1_order.mdwn index 2a54503c..02ed4836 100644 --- a/topics/week1_order.mdwn +++ b/topics/week1_order.mdwn @@ -114,8 +114,8 @@ of the order of the premises. Here is the meaning of one of the logical connectives of classical logic, expressed in the form of a standard truth table: - A B A&B - ----------- + A B A and B + -------------- T T T T F F F T F @@ -144,8 +144,8 @@ to make. Given that a partial-function approach to presupposition failure is coherent, let's consider one way to extend classical conjunction: - p q p&q - -------------- + p q p and q + ----------------- a. T T T b. T F F c. F T F @@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ course the conjunction as a whole will be undefined. So far, so good. Nothing so far undermines the static view. But now consider the two remaining possibilities, one by one, starting with line (h). Here is a concrete sentence fitting the pattern addressed -by line (h), `F&#`: +by line (h), `F and #`: 6. The sun is green and the King of France is bald. @@ -202,8 +202,8 @@ conjunction as a whole, let the value of the left conjunct control the outcome. To be sure, it would also be coherent to choose a fully symmetric -truth table by replacing line (h) with one that maps `F&#` to `#`, or -by replacing line (i) with one that maps `#&F` to `F`. With respect +truth table by replacing line (h) with one that maps `F and #` to `#`, or +by replacing line (i) with one that maps `# and F` to `F`. With respect to natural language, of course, which truth table is a better match for a given natural language is an empirical question, and not one that can be settled by logical argument. If native speakers behave as @@ -242,5 +242,14 @@ the value of the implication as a whole depends on the value of `X`, but in the material implication `F --> ?`, the outcome is `T` no matter what the value of `X` turns out to be. -[to be added: citation details; reasoning about order sensitivity in -an order-independent way] +(To be added: citation details; reasoning about order sensitivity in +an order-independent way.) + +The preceding discussion has endeavored to bring out some *similarities* +between the kind of order-dependence in our three-valued truth-table, and the +kinds of order-dependence exhibited by "dynamic semantics." But there are also +of course substantial *differences* between them, and these are also, perhaps +even more interesting. Over the course of this semester we hope to clarify and +help you to think more carefully about both the similarities and the +differences. +