Skip to main content

The Inhabitants of Vagueness Models

  • Chapter
Vagueness and Language Use

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Pragmatics, Language and Cognition ((PSPLC))

  • 222 Accesses

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).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Barker, C. (2002). The dynamics of vagueness. Linguistics and Philosophy, 25(1): 1–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fara, D. (2000). Shifting sands: an interest-relative theory of vagueness. Philosophical Topics, 28(1): 45–81 (originally published under the name Delia Graff).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fine, K. (1975). Vagueness, truth and logic. Synthese, 30: 265–300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • Groenendijk, J., Stokhof, M. and Veltman, F. (1996). Coreference and modality. In Lappin, S. (ed.), The Handbook of Contemporary Semantic Theory. Blackwell, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kamp, H. (1975). Two theories about adjectives. In Keenan, E. (ed.), Formal Semantics for Natural Language, pp. 123–55. Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kamp, H. and Partee, B. (1995). Prototype theory and compositionality. Cognition, 57: 129–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, C. (1999). Projecting the Adjective: the Syntax and Semantics of Gradability and Comparison. Garland, New York. (1997 UCSC doctoral dissertation.)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, C. (2001). Polar opposition and the ontology of “degrees.” Linguistics and Philosophy, 24: 33–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klein, E. (1980). A semantics for positive and comparative adjectives. Linguistics and Philosophy, 4: 1–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kripke, S. (1980). Naming and Necessity. Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • Landman, F. (1990). Partial information, modality, and intentionality. In Hanson, P. P. (ed.), Information, Language, and Cognition. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, D. (1986). On the Plurality of Worlds. Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, D. (1988). Vague identity: Evans misunderstood. Analysis, 48(3): 128–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moltmann, F. (2006). Comparatives without degrees. A new approach. A manuscript for the Workshop on Scalar Meaning, University of Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, G. (2002). The Big Book of Concepts. The MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russell, B. (1905). On denoting. Mind, 14, 479–93. Reprinted in Russell, B. (1973). Essays in Analysis, pp. 103–19. Allen and Unwin, London.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sassoon, W. G. (2007). Vagueness, gradability, and typicality – a comprehensive semantics analysis. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Tel Aviv University.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • Searle, J. (1958). Proper names. Mind, 67(266): 166–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sorensen, R. (1988). Blindspots. Clarendon Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stalnaker, R. (1978). Assertion. In Cole, P. (ed.), Syntax and Semantics 9: Pragmatics, pp. 315–32. Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williamson, T. (1994). Vagueness. Routledge, London and New York.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

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

Publish with us

Policies and ethics