Abstract
As part of the common practice of experimental research in cognitive psychology, objects are systematically represented by clusters of property values. Individuals correspond to points in an n-dimensional space, for some number n, where each dimension (axis) is some scalar property. For example, the set of possible individuals presented as stimuli in a given experiment can be represented with the two-dimensional space generated from the scalar properties denoted by red and long, or from the dimensions color and shape, the latter seen as nominal-scale properties, assigning to entities values such as “red,” “blue,” “square” and “circle.” The result is a set of individuals including a red square, a blue square, etc. Many other examples can be found in, for instance, Murphy (2002).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Barker, C. (2002). The dynamics of vagueness. Linguistics and Philosophy, 25(1): 1–36.
Fara, D. (2000). Shifting sands: an interest-relative theory of vagueness. Philosophical Topics, 28(1): 45–81 (originally published under the name Delia Graff).
Fine, K. (1975). Vagueness, truth and logic. Synthese, 30: 265–300.
Frege, G. (1892). Über Sinn und Bedeutung. In Zeitschrift für Philosophie und philosophische Kritik, 100: 25–50. Translated as “On sense and reference”, in Geach, P. and Black, M. (eds), Translations from the Philosophical Writings of Gottlob Frege, 3rd edn, 1980, Blackwell, Oxford.
Groenendijk, J., Stokhof, M. and Veltman, F. (1996). Coreference and modality. In Lappin, S. (ed.), The Handbook of Contemporary Semantic Theory. Blackwell, Oxford.
Kamp, H. (1975). Two theories about adjectives. In Keenan, E. (ed.), Formal Semantics for Natural Language, pp. 123–55. Cambridge University Press.
Kamp, H. and Partee, B. (1995). Prototype theory and compositionality. Cognition, 57: 129–91.
Kennedy, C. (1999). Projecting the Adjective: the Syntax and Semantics of Gradability and Comparison. Garland, New York. (1997 UCSC doctoral dissertation.)
Kennedy, C. (2001). Polar opposition and the ontology of “degrees.” Linguistics and Philosophy, 24: 33–70.
Klein, E. (1980). A semantics for positive and comparative adjectives. Linguistics and Philosophy, 4: 1–45.
Klein, E. (1991). Comparatives. In von Stechow, A. and Wunderlich, D. (eds), Semantik/Semantics, an International Handdbook of Contemporary Research, pp. 673–91. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin and New York.
Kripke, S. (1980). Naming and Necessity. Harvard University Press.
Landman, F. (1986). Pegs and alecs. In Landman, F., Towards a Theory of Information. The Status of Partial Objects in Semantics. GRASS 6, Foris, Dordrecht; Linguistics and Philosophy, 97–155.
Landman, F. (1990). Partial information, modality, and intentionality. In Hanson, P. P. (ed.), Information, Language, and Cognition. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver.
Lewis, D. (1986). On the Plurality of Worlds. Blackwell.
Lewis, D. (1988). Vague identity: Evans misunderstood. Analysis, 48(3): 128–30.
Lewis, D. (1993). Many, but almost one. In Campbell, K. Bacon J. and Reinhardt, L. (eds), Ontology, Causality, and Mind: Essays on the Philosophy of D. M. Armstrong. Cambridge University Press. Reprinted in David Lewis (1999). Papers in Metaphysics and Epistemology. Cambridge University Press.
Moltmann, F. (2006). Comparatives without degrees. A new approach. A manuscript for the Workshop on Scalar Meaning, University of Chicago.
Murphy, G. (2002). The Big Book of Concepts. The MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Russell, B. (1905). On denoting. Mind, 14, 479–93. Reprinted in Russell, B. (1973). Essays in Analysis, pp. 103–19. Allen and Unwin, London.
Sassoon, W. G. (2007). Vagueness, gradability, and typicality – a comprehensive semantics analysis. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Tel Aviv University.
Sauerland, U. and Stateva, P. (2007). Scalar vs epistemic vagueness: evidence from approximators. In Friedman, T. and Gibson, M. (eds), SALT XVII, pp. 228–45. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
Searle, J. (1958). Proper names. Mind, 67(266): 166–73.
Sorensen, R. (1988). Blindspots. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Stalnaker, R. (1978). Assertion. In Cole, P. (ed.), Syntax and Semantics 9: Pragmatics, pp. 315–32. Academic Press.
van Fraassen, B. C. (1969). Presuppositions, supervaluations and free logic. In Lambert, K. (ed.), The Logical Way of Doing Things, pp. 67–91. Yale University Press, New Haven.
Veltman, F. (1984). Data semantics. In Groenendijk, J., Janssen, T. and Stokhof, M. (eds), Truth, Interpretation and Information, Proceedings of the 3rd Amsterdam Colloquium. Floris Publications, Dordrecht.
Williamson, T. (1994). Vagueness. Routledge, London and New York.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2011 Galit W. Sassoon
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sassoon, G. (2011). The Inhabitants of Vagueness Models. In: Égré, P., Klinedinst, N. (eds) Vagueness and Language Use. Palgrave Studies in Pragmatics, Language and Cognition. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230299313_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230299313_5
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-31574-1
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-29931-3
eBook Packages: Palgrave Language & Linguistics CollectionEducation (R0)