Semantics, tense, and time : an essay in the metaphysics of natural language / Peter Ludlow.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ludlow, Peter, 1957- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Grammar, Comparative and general--Tense.

Grammar, Comparative and general.

Language and languages--Philosophy.

Language and languages.

Metaphysics.

Semantics.

Time.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxi, 252 pages) : illustrations

Other Title:

MIT Press CogNet.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts : The MIT Press, [1999]

System Details:

text file

Summary:

According to Peter Ludlow, there is a very close relation between the structure of natural language and that of reality, and one can gain insights into long-standing metaphysical questions by studying the semantics of natural language. In this book Ludlow uses the metaphysics of time as a case study and focuses on the dispute between A-theorists and B-theorists about the nature of time. According to B-theorists, there is no genuine change, but a permanent sequence of events ordered by an earlier-than/later-than relation. According to the version of the A-theory adopted by Ludlow (a position sometimes called "presentism"), there are no past or future events or times; what makes something past or future is how the world stands right now.

Ludlow argues that each metaphysical picture is tied to a particular semantical theory of tense and that the dispute can be adjudicated on semantical grounds. A presentism-compatible semantics, he claims, is superior to a B-theory semantics in a number of respects, including its abilities to handle the indexical nature of temporal discourse and to account for facts about language acquisition. Along the way, Ludlow develops a conception of "E-type" temporal anaphora that can account for both temporal anaphora and complex tenses without reference to past and future events. His view has philosophical consequences for theories of logic, self-knowledge, and memory. As for linguistic consequences, Ludlow suggests that the very idea of grammatical tense may have to be dispensed with and replaced with some combination of aspect, modality, and evidentiality.

Notes:

"A Bradford book."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 233-245) and index.

Description based on print version record.

Other Format:

Print version: Ludlow, Peter, 1957- Semantics, tense, and time.

ISBN:

9780262278621

0262278626

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.