The modal future : a theory of future-directed thought and talk / Fabrizio Cariani.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cariani, Fabrizio, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Modality (Linguistics).

Grammar, Comparative and general--Tense.

Grammar, Comparative and general.

Grammar, Comparative and general--Temporal constructions.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxv, 292 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2021.

Summary:

It is commonly assumed that we conceive of the past and the future as symmetrical. In this book, Fabrizio Cariani develops a new theory of future-directed discourse and thought that shows that our linguistic and philosophical conceptions of the past and future are, in fact, fundamentally different. Future thought and talk, Cariani suggests, are best understood in terms of a systematic analogy with counterfactual thought and talk, and are not just mirror images of the past. Cariani makes this case by developing detailed formal semantic theories as well as by advancing less technical views about the nature of future-directed judgment and prediction. His book addresses in a thought-provoking way several important debates in contemporary philosophy, and his synthesis of parallel threads of research will benefit scholars in the philosophy of language, metaphysics, epistemology, linguistics and cognitive science.

Contents:

Cover

Half-title

Title page

Copyright information

Dedication

Contents

List of Figures

Preface

List of Conventions and Abbreviations

Introduction

Part I Background

1 The Symmetric Paradigm

1.1 The Symmetric Paradigm

1.2 Symmetric Semantics

1.3 The Symmetric Paradigm Contextualized

1.4 Temporal Ontology and Symmetric Semantics

Appendix: The Logic K[sub(t)]

2 Symmetric Semantics in an Asymmetric World

2.1 Branching Metaphysics

2.2 Branching Models

2.3 Symmetric Semantics on Branching Models

2.4 Ways of Being an Ockhamist

2.5 Interpreting Branching Models

Part II The Road to Selection Semantics

3 The Modal Challenge

3.1 What Is a Modal?

3.2 The Argument from Common Morphology

3.3 The Argument from Present-Directed Uses

3.4 The Argument from Modal Subordination

3.5 The Argument from Acquaintance Inferences

3.6 Morals and Distinctions

4 Modality without Quantification

4.1 Quantificational Theories

4.2 Universal Analyses and Retrospective Evaluations

4.3 Prior's Bet Objection

4.4 The Zero Credence Problem

4.5 Scope with Negation

4.6 Homogeneity

4.7 Neg-Raising to the Rescue?

5 Basic Selection Semantics

5.1 Selection Semantics: A First Look

5.2 Basic Versions of Selection Semantics

5.3 Notions of Validity: A Primer

5.4 Logical Features of Selection Semantics

5.5 Solving the Zero Credence Problem

5.6 Modal Subordination

5.7 Present-Directed Uses of Will

5.8 Revisiting the Acquaintance Inference

Part III Developing Selection Semantics

6 Between Will and Might

6.1 The Bug

6.2 The Bug Amplified: Future Might Contradictions

6.3 Kissine's Argument

6.4 The Epistemic Patch

6.5 The Relational Patch

6.6 On Coordinated Informational Entailment

6.7 Epistemic Relationalism?

Appendix: Proofs.

7 Future Orientation

7.1 Revisiting the Formalism

7.2 Hybrid Approaches

7.3 Temporal Selection

7.4 The Future Orientation of Modals

7.5 Theoretical Background

7.6 Selection Semantics, Condoravdi Style

7.7 Applications

8 Neo-Stalnakerian Conditionals

8.1 Preliminaries

8.2 Stalnaker's Semantics for Conditionals

8.3 Will-Conditionals in Selection Semantics

8.4 Logical Patterns in the Factorized Analysis

8.5 The Generalized Factorization Analysis

8.6 Counterhistorical Restriction

8.7 On the Proliferation of Covert Modals

8.8 Collapse and the Identity Principle

Appendix: Proofs

Part IV Assertion, Prediction, and the Future

9 On Predicting

9.1 Predicting ≠ Forecasting: An Easy Piece

9.2 Predicting versus Asserting

9.3 The Future Discovery View

9.4 The Proper Expectation Account

9.5 The Synthetic View

9.6 Predicting and Asserting

9.7 Predicting and Theoretical Prediction

10 Assertion Troubles

10.1 Two Notions of Assertibility

10.2 The Original Assertion Problem

10.3 The Normative Assertion Problem

10.4 Against Concessive Solutions

10.5 Weaker Rules

10.6 Non-normative Conceptions of Assertion

11 Thin Red Lines without Tears

11.1 What Is the Open Future Hypothesis?

11.2 Metaphysical Indeterminacy

11.3 Context, Content, and Indeterminacy

11.4 Indeterminate Normative Statuses

11.5 The Lifting Argument

11.6 Assertion Problems Solved

11.7 Objections against trl: Belnap and Green

11.8 Objections against trl: MacFarlane

11.9 Conclusion

Part V Future Cognition and Epistemology: Some Themes

12 Imagining and Simulating the Future

12.1 The Simulation Heuristic

12.2 Simulation and Counterfactuals

12.3 Varieties and Degrees of Mental Simulation

12.4 Simulation and Inference.

12.5 Future Judgment and Inductive Reasoning

13 On the Direct Evidence Inference

13.1 Ninan on the Direct Evidence Inference: Background

13.2 Ninan on the Direct Evidence Inference: The Puzzles

13.3 Amplifying the Puzzles

13.4 The Available Evidence Account

13.5 On Future Normalcy

13.6 The Lexical Account: First Steps

13.7 The Lexical Account: Developments

13.8 The Lexical Account: Complications

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 18 Jun 2021).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-108-57146-8

1-108-67280-9

1-108-66851-8

OCLC:

1235904442