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International Workshop on Vagueness in Communication

VIC 2009: Vagueness in Communication pp 127–150Cite as

Vagueness as Probabilistic Linguistic Knowledge

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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 6517))

Abstract

Consideration of the metalinguistic effects of utterances involving vague terms has led Barker [1] to treat vagueness using a modified Stalnakerian model of assertion. I present a sorites-like puzzle for factual beliefs in the standard Stalnakerian model [28] and show that it can be resolved by enriching the model to make use of probabilistic belief spaces. An analogous problem arises for metalinguistic information in Barker’s model, and I suggest that a similar enrichment is needed here as well. The result is a probabilistic theory of linguistic representation that retains a classical metalanguage but avoids the undesirable divorce between meaning and use inherent in the epistemic theory [34]. I also show that the probabilistic approach provides a plausible account of the sorites paradox and higher-order vagueness and that it fares well empirically and conceptually in comparison to leading competitors.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. New York University, USA

    Daniel Lassiter

Authors
  1. Daniel Lassiter
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Utrecht Institute for Linguistics OTS, Utrecht University, Janskerkhof 13a, 3512, Utrecht, BL, The Netherlands

    Rick Nouwen

  2. Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC), University of Amsterdam, Oude Turfmarkt 141-147, 1012, Amsterdam, GC, The Netherlands

    Robert van Rooij

  3. Zentrum für allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft, Schützenstraße 18, 10117, Berlin, Germany

    Uli Sauerland

  4. Fraunhofer FIT, Schloss Birlinghoven, 53757, Sankt Augustin, Germany

    Hans-Christian Schmitz

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Lassiter, D. (2011). Vagueness as Probabilistic Linguistic Knowledge. In: Nouwen, R., van Rooij, R., Sauerland, U., Schmitz, HC. (eds) Vagueness in Communication. VIC 2009. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 6517. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-18446-8_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-18446-8_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-18445-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-18446-8

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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