Speaker: Maria Aloni (University of Amsterdam)
Title: Neglect-zero effects at the semantics-pragmatics interface
Time: Friday, March 11th, 2:30pm – 4pm
Abstract: In Free Choice (FC) inferences, conjunctive meanings are derived from dis-
junctive modal sentences contrary to the prescriptions of classical logic [Kam73,
Zim00, Fox07, Alo07]:
(1) Positive FC
a. You may go to the beach or to the cinema. —> You may go to the beach and you may go to the cinema.
b. ◊(a ∨ b) —> ◊a ∧ ◊b
[Alo21] presented a formal account of FC inferences in a Bilateral State- based Modal Logic (BSML). The novel hypothesis at the core of this proposal is that FC and related inferences are a straightforward consequence of a tendency in human cognition to neglect models that verify sentences by virtue of some empty configurations (neglect-zero) [BSK19]. There are two different ways to implement neglect-zero in BSML: (i) syntactically, using the [ ]+-enrichment function from [Alo21]; and (ii) model-theoretically, ruling out the empty set from the set of possible states (BSML∗). These two implementations both derive FC inferences and their cancellation under negation, but differ for example in their predictions with respect to the debated case of Negative FC (only derivable in BSML∗):
(2) FC cancellation under negation [AO06]
a. You are not allowed to eat the cake or the ice cream. —> You are not allowed to eat either one.
b. ¬◊(a ∨ b) —> ¬◊a ∧ ¬◊b
(3) Negative FC [MRSB21]
a. It is not required that Mia buys both apples and bananas. —> It is not required that Mia buys apples and that Mia buys bananas.
b. ¬◻(a ∧ b) —> ¬◻a ∧ ¬◻b
In the talk I will compare the predictions of these implementations with those of recent alternative accounts [Gol19, BLF20] and then argue in favor of a hybrid approach where neglect-zero can cause two kinds of effects:
(i) cancellable global effects (modelled by BSML∗);
(ii) more robust effects triggered by the conventional meaning of certain ex- pressions (modelled by obligatory local applications of [ ]+-enrichments)