Between Logic and the World - An Integrated Theory of Generics

In our everyday thought and talk, we put things into categories in order to generalize about them: 'Lions have manes', 'Ravens are black'. Bernhard Nickel presents a theory of generic sentences and the modes of thought they express, integrating compositional semantics with metaphysics to solve the problems of what they mean and how they work.

List of contents

• 1: Introduction


• 2: Genericity and Generics


• I: Semantics


• 3: The Basic Semantics


• 4: Other Recent Work


• 5: Logical Complexity


• 6: Genericity and Gradability


• II: Normality


• 7: A Definition of Normality


• 8: Linguistics--A Case Study


• 9: Coda: Onward, Upward, Inward, Outward


• III: Appendices


• A: Formal Results and Implementations


• B: A Detailed Presentation of Free Choice Inferences

About the author

Bernhard Nickel is Professor of Philosophy at Harvard University. His research interests lie in the philosophy of language and linguistics.

Summary

In our everyday thought and talk, we put things into categories in order to generalize about them: 'Lions have manes', 'Ravens are black'. Bernhard Nickel presents a theory of generic sentences and the modes of thought they express, integrating compositional semantics with metaphysics to solve the problems of what they mean and how they work.

Additional text

Nickel's book offers a rich, novel approach to theorizing about generics, and cutting edge theories of their semantics and associated metaphysics. The book succeeds at lifting the level of philosophical, methodological and technical sophistication of the subject matter. Anyone interested in philosophy of language, metaphysics or the connections between them will profit greatly from reading it.

Product details

• Authors: Bernhard Nickel, Bernhard (Harvard University) Nickel, Nickel Bernhard
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 30.06.2019
• EAN: 9780198822615
• ISBN: 978-0-19-882261-5
• No. of pages: 288
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative linguistics; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Miscellaneous; Philosophy of Language, Linguistics, PHILOSOPHY / Metaphysics, PHILOSOPHY / Language, Philosophy, LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General, Philosophy: metaphysics & ontology, Philosophy: metaphysics and ontology