Possible World Semantics Research Papers (original) (raw)

2025, Educational technology research and development

Although the metaverse is a trending topic in several fields, it is not a new concept within the field of education. In this study, we followed the PRISMA framework and identified 37 articles since 2008 that researched the metaverse in education. We critically reviewed these articles, aiming to examine the evolution of the field's conceptual understanding of the metaverse in education, identify its applications and effects, as well as synthesize the technical solutions and adoption challenges for implementing metaverse systems in schools. We found that the early empirical implementation of metaverse concepts in education mainly emphasized the characteristics of 3D virtual environments and avatars using the Second Life and OpenSim platforms. These traditional applications were found to be effective in supporting various teaching methods and enhancing students' learning experiences and outcomes. In recent studies, more advanced technologies that pursue the fusion of physical and virtual environments (e.g. AI techniques, VR/AR devices, cloud platforms, wearable devices) have been incorporated into metaverse systems. However, the extent to which physical and virtual environments were fused in metaverse applications in education needs to be further clarified. We suggest that the conceptual clarity of the metaverse in education will keep evolving along with the technology development, and teacher preparedness for this new technical revolution needs more attention.

2025, Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic

Let J and K be sets of (interpreted) logical primitives and let LJ and LK be languages based on J and if respectively, but having a common set of variables and non-logical constants. Let £Jbe a logic on LJ. Suppose t is a function which carries formulas of LJ into logically equivalent formulas of LK. It has been known since at least 1958 [6] that the completeness of the logic on LK (<£K), resulting from the translation (by t) of JQJ is not assured by the completeness of <£J. This result may not be widely known; in 1972 Crossley [2] made a mistake by overlooking it. Crossley constructed a logic, here called J£[Ί, &, Ξ)], by translating a logic known to be complete, 1 here called -C[" > -> v ί Crossley thought that ^[Ί, &, 3] is complete, but it is not. 2 Similar examples may have motivated William Frank's recent article in this Journal concerning the reasons why some translations do not preserve completeness. Unfortunately, there are two errors in the latter; it is the purpose of this article to set them straight. Frank's main theorem reads as follows: If Ί(A) is the closure of a formal system in a language £, with axioms Al, . . ., AN; and rules Rl, . . ., RM and t a rule of translation from -C to -C r , then T f , the closure of t(Al), . . .,t(AJV),

2025

Speakers can use sentences to make assertions. Theorists who reflect on this truism often say that sentences have linguistic meanings, and that assertions have propositional contents. But how are meanings related to contents? Are meanings less dependent on the environment? Are contents more independent of language? These are large questions, which must be understood partly in terms of the phenomena that lead theorists to use words like 'meaning' and 'content', sometimes in nonstandard ways. Opportunities for terminological confusion thus abound when talking about the relations among semantics, pragmatics, and truth. As stresses, in Quinean fashion, it is hard to separate the task of evaluating hypotheses in these domains from the task of getting clear about what the hypotheses are. But after some stage-setting, I suggest that we

2025, Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic

A possible world is a junky world if and only if each thing in it is a proper part. The possibility of junky worlds contradicts the principle of general fusion. Bohn (2009) argues for the possibility of junky worlds; Watson (2010) suggests that Bohn's arguments are flawed. This paper shows that the arguments of both authors leave much to be desired. First, relying on the classical results of Cantor, Zermelo, Fraenkel, and von Neumann, this paper proves the possibility of junky worlds for certain weak set theories. Second, the paradox of Burali-Forti shows that according to the Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory ZF, junky worlds are possible. Finally, it is shown that set theories are not the only sources for designing plausible models of junky worlds: topology (and possibly other "algebraic" mathematical theories) may be used to construct models of junky worlds. In sum, junkyness is a relatively widespread feature among possible worlds.

2025

This paper introduces a formal system in which logical inference and truth are defined not via propositional values but through structural acts of distinction. The logic D models scenes, nodes, modal transitions, and recursive levels, supporting both classical and non-classical inference. We show how D captures patterns such as modus ponens, handles metaphor, and applies to cognition. A modal theory of truth is defined through stability across possible scenes. The framework addresses foundational problems in philosophy and offers applications to logic, semantics, and AI.

2025, Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy

The problem of contingent existence is the problem of how an individual's nonexistence such as Socrates's nonexistence is possible within the framework of possible worlds, or, equivalently, how a negative existential proposition about Socrates can be true at some world. This paper is concerned with Robert Adams's celebrated solution that distinguishes two modes of truth at a world: inner and outer. Adams argues that Socrates's nonexistence is not an inner truth but an outer truth at a world in which he does not exist. However, Adams's solution faces significant challenges, as his proposed rule for determining outer truths leads to undesirable consequences. For Adams's solution to be viable, a revised rule is necessary. Iris Einheuser attempts to address this issue by providing an alternative rule, arguing that Adams's rule is not inevitable. However, this paper argues that Einheuser's proposal ultimately fails, as it implies the unacceptable conclusion that all entities are necessary existents.

2025, An Argument against Frege’s Theory of Reference

An old paper from my third semester as an undergraduate, left more or less unedited. The class was PHIL 391: Philosophy of Language. Fall 2009. Professor Bryan Register. This version includes Professor Register's comments in red, which... more

2025, ISRG Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies

The dynamism of the global ecosystem has facilitated the invention and emergence of many technologies in recent times aimed at easing the way things are done and information disseminated. One such technology is the avatar. This paper to this end takes a look at avatar and why it is needed in academic libraries in Nigeria. The study applied a qualitative research design, utilizing the explanatory research approach to examine the need for libraries to utilize Avatar technology in the contemporary digital ecosystem. A systematic examination of related literature was carried out in the cause of the study, with special reference on articles that gave concise and accurate information on Avatar technology using various search engines and websites such as, Google cloud, Google Search, Google Scholar and ResearchGate, AcademiaEdu and other related websites. The paper discussed avatar from the conceptual point of view, tracing the root of the concept and why it is needed in academic libraries which has found from the reviewed literature include among others that avatar technology is much better than video conferencing, works well with Intranets that do not support video conferencing traffic, can prevent information bottlenecks due to personality clashes, can express emotion through facial expressions and body posture. The paper also looked at the some ethical issues to be considered in the use of avatar in academic libraries such as identity creation in which case avatars provide users the chance to come up with digital identities that may be different from their real-life identity as well as the challenges of using the technology in academic libraries on the ground that avatar technology, is a fairly new horizon and there is this mixed reactions as what good or harm is going to have on the digital ecosystem in this millennium considering the fact, that it is faced with this problem of identity theft, which is a serious ethical challenge. The paper finally made its recommendations which include inter-alia; that there is the need for librarians to be trained and retrained on the intricacies of the art of avatar representations in the library and they in-turn, train the users for effective service delivery and harnessing the gains of avatar technology in a digital ecosystem as well as academic libraries and librarians carrying out vigorous avatar-literacy campaign.

2025

Necessary improvements should be made to increase the effectiveness of non-fungible tokens on the Metaverse platform without having extra costs. For the purpose of handing this process more efficiently, there is a need to determine the most important factors for a more successful integration of non-fungible tokens into this platform. Accordingly, this study aims to determine the appropriate the identity management choices of nonfungible tokens in the Metaverse. There are three different stages in the proposed novel fuzzy decision-making model. The first stage includes prioritizing the expert choices with artificial intelligence-based decision-making methodology. Secondly, the criteria sets for managing non-fungible tokens are weighted by using Quantum picture fuzzy rough setsbased M-SWARA methodology. Finally, the identity management choices regarding non-fungible tokens in the Metaverse are ranked with Quantum picture fuzzy rough sets oriented VIKOR. The main contribution of this study is that artificial intelligence methodology is integrated to the fuzzy decision-making modelling to differentiate the experts. With the help of this situation, it can be possible to create clusters for the experts. Hence, the opinions of experts outside this group may be excluded from the scope. It has been determined that security must be ensured first to increase the use of non-fungible tokens on the Metaverse platform. Similarly, technological infrastructure must also be sufficient to achieve this objective. Moreover, biometrics for unique identification has the best ranking performance among the alternatives. Privacy with authentication plays also critical role for the effectiveness of this process.

2025, MANTHANO: Jurnal Pendidikan Kristen

Metaverse is a technology that is develop from the internet. Within the metaverse you can communicate, shop, work, go to school, worship, travel, watch concerts, play games and many other things. Metaverse is in the public spotlight because in metaverse you can state or represent yourself in the form of an avatar so that you can be directly involved in every activity in it. The problem is if this technological progress is not accompanied by healthy spiritual growth or spirituality, it can lead to ethical, moral, social violations in the use of such technology, especially in its use in the field of education. In this paper, we will analyse the impact of metaverse in the world of Christian religious education on students, especially those closely related to presenting God in cyberspace. The study was conducted using the literature study method by analysing papers, journals, from various domestic and foreign institutions. The results of the study show that metaverse can be used as a means of supporting Christian religious education as long as the spiritual growth level of students is maintained and metaverse is only used in certain subjects or courses, especially those that require simulation.

2025, Topoi

The rule-following paradox represents one of the most fundamental forms of skepticism, as it suggests the impossibility of possessing any intentional content. Despite numerous solutions proposed since Kripke's interpretation of Wittgenstein, a definitive resolution remains elusive. This suggests that some commonsense notions regarding rules or semantic content may need to be reconsidered. Some commentators advocate abandoning the conception of absolute determinacy in meaning, which holds that every logically possible application is definitively right or wrong. There are countless possible instances of the application of rules, but as finite beings, we cannot classify every one of them as either right or wrong. Embracing this perspective, I defend a version of radical conventionalism, asserting that whenever practitioners agree on the specific steps for applying expressions, their agreement establishes both rules and semantic facts. A common objection to this idea is that it fails to account for the possibility of errors because we might agree on incorrect points or disagree on correct ones. To address this objection, I propose that semantic facts could be determined retrospectively; subsequent practices institute the semantic facts about their antecedent practices by refining and overriding the semantic facts established in the past. Semantic facts are essentially indeterminate because the application of expressions without agreement in practice is neither correct nor incorrect; however, they are historically determinable.

2025

With the recent rise of the metaverse, blockchain, and nonfungible token (NFT) technologies, luxury brands have embraced these concepts to expand their portfolios. To boost NFT sales, marketers often link them to specific physical products, creating digital twins. While this strategy may enhance perceptions of NFTs, its impact on consumer responses to the associated physical products remains unclear. Across six experiments, including one preregistered, we explore how merely mentioning NFT versions of luxury products influences consumer responses to their physical counterparts. We find that the availability of an NFT version negatively influences consumer responses to the associated physical product, an effect mediated by reduced perceived luxuriousness. This effect is particularly pronounced in the luxury domain, most relevant when the NFT is associated with a specific product (digital twin) and is not inherently applicable to all new technologies.

2025

In the paper we will study the notions of possible-worlds semantics, fiction, and creativity. The intention is to show how the notion of possible-worlds semantics allows us to generate a fresh interpretation of the notions of fiction and creativity. To do this, we have to consider the philosophy of logic. Possible-worlds semantics can be used in interpreting modal notions. The intention is to interpret the notions of fiction and creativity as modal notions. However, the analysis shows that the notions of fiction and creativity are multimodal notions.

2025, Synthesis Philosophica

In Tractatus, Wittgenstein says that "to say of two things that they are identical is nonsense, and to say of one thing that it is identical with itself is to say nothing." This seems to make all the discussion about identity trivial; is there anything that can be said about identity? The extensive discussion about identity demonstrates that the notion of identity is far from trivial. Think, for example, identity of an entity over time or personal identity. The notion of individuation, or let us say identification, is a key notion for Quine in explicating his wording "no entity without identity". The notion allows us to analyse and answer questions such as the following: How to know the identity of an individual? What kinds of constraints does such identification knowledge suppose? Identification means locating an individual on some framework. However, the notion of identification may not be confused with the notion of reference: the relationship between the notions of identification and reference is reminiscent of the relationship between Frege's notions of Sinn and Bedeutung. To make the notion of identification explicit, we will use the possible-worlds semantics, which interconnects us to more general philosophical discussion. Using possible-worlds semantics we can explicate different methods of identification or cross-identification, as well as physical and perceptual methods, which allow us to analyse the notion of identity more deeply. This approach is philosophically important but it also has several methodological implications to empirical science.

2025, Phenomenological Studies

This essay explores the ontology of non-actuality. The term 'non-actuality' refers to being insofar as it is not actual and yet is not reducible to non-being simpliciter (pure nothingness). Potentiality or virtuality, for instance, seem to occupy an intermediate space since these are neither actual nor pure nothing. In the first part, I propose a critique of actualism, the ontological position that considers that only that which is actual is real by considering an ancient version (Diodorus Cronus) and a contemporary debate on modalities (modal realism and modal fictionalism). I then analyze non-actuality through the case of virtual reality, the ontology of power, Aristotelian dunamis, and Deleuzian virtuality and reject the common reduction of potentiality to a lack or privation. As an alternative, I propose to conceptualize the form of process ontology that would accommodate virtuality and potentiality in terms of play (Spielraum).

2025, Roots of Europe Project

This paper introduces a novel and highly complex integrative transdisciplinary methodology, published here for the first time, for processing and analyzing historical data. The method enhances the accuracy and reliability of historical reconstructions by integrating quantitative techniques (such as Bayesian statistics, Chi-square tests, and evolutionary modeling) with sophisticated qualitative frameworks (including Fregean semantics, Russell's theory of descriptions, Wittgenstein's language games, Peirce's semiotics, speech act theory, and possible worlds semantics). Additionally, it employs automated calculations powered by advanced AI technology. By systematically applying these diverse analytical tools, the proposed approach ensures rigorous validation of hypotheses, robust interpretation of historical data, and comprehensive integration of evidence across multiple disciplines, thus significantly advancing methodological standards in historical and cultural research.

2025, Journal of Semantics

It has sometimes been proposed that generic sentences make statements about prototypic members of a category. In this paper I will elaborate this view and develop an account where generic sentences express quantification about the normal exemplars in a categoryhere and in counterf.actual worlds sufficiendy similar to our own. Comparing the account to the currendy most widespread analysis which views generic sentences as universal quantifications in carefully chosen best-possible worlds, we find that an analysis that is based on the choice of normal objects does better justice to the data in question than an analysis that relies on a choice of normal worlds alone. A further conceptual advantage of an explicit separation of (a) a choice of best exemplars and (b) a modal component of generic quantification consists in the fact that it highlights that different generic sentences can rely on different kinds of choice of best exemplar. Comparing their logical behaviour, I will demonstrate that we should at least distinguish between normal-generic sentences and ideal-generic sentences. Finally, the paper proves that the account I propose is a modal variant of some recent purely extensional default logics, developed in AL

2025

Fictional information presents a unique challenge to the developing child. Children must learn when it is appropriate to transfer information from the fictional space to the real world and what contextual cues should be considered in this decision. The current research explores children's causal inferences between fictional representations and reality by examining their developing sensitivity to the proximity of the fictional world to the real world, and the effect of this judgment on their subsequent generalization of novel causal properties. By 3-years of age, children are able to evaluate the data that they receive from fictional stories in order to inform their generalization of novel story content to the real world. Additionally, as children develop, they become better able to discriminate between close (realistic) and far (fantastical) fictional worlds when assessing which stories are likely to provide relevant causal knowledge.

2025, messopotamian.press

This study examines the Metaverse's impact on higher education and finance, introducing the concept of "Metaversities" and virtual financial services. We conducted a randomized controlled trial with 400 undergraduate students over two semesters, comparing an integrated metaverse-enhanced learning approach to traditional digital methods. Results show significant improvements in the metaverse group: 15% higher exam scores, 41% more time spent learning, 19.5% better knowledge retention, and 110% more peer interactions. The study also explores virtual financial solutions offered by banks, potentially democratizing access to financial services. Our results demonstrate significant improvements in academic performance, engagement, knowledge retention, collaboration, and student satisfaction among participants in the metaverse-enhanced learning group. The experimental group showed a 15% increase in average final exam scores, spent 41% more time on learning activities, and demonstrated 19.5% higher knowledge retention one month after course completion compared to the control group. Collaboration metrics also improved substantially, with the experimental group engaging in 110% more peer interactions and producing higher quality group projects. However, challenges such as practical application, legislation needs, cybersecurity, and digital divide issues are identified. While the Metaverse shows promise in expanding access to quality education and financial services, careful management is crucial to prevent exacerbating inequalities. This research contributes empirical evidence on the Metaverse's effectiveness in higher learning and insights into its financial sector implications. Our findings suggest that the Metaverse offers unprecedented opportunities for innovation in education and finance, but stakeholders must address critical challenges to ensure equitable and beneficial implementation.

2025, International Journal of Approximate Reasoning

Logical formalisation of agent behaviour is desirable, not only in order to provide a clear semantics of agent-based systems, but also to provide the foundation for sophisticated reasoning techniques to be used on, and by, the agents themselves. The possible worlds semantics offered by modal logic has proved to be a successful framework in which to model mental attitudes of agents such as beliefs, desires and intentions. The most popular choices for modeling the informational attitudes involves annotating the agent with an S5-like logic for knowledge, or a KD45-like logic for belief. However, using these logics in their standard form, an agent cannot distinguish situations in which the evidence for a certain fact is 'equally distributed' over its alternatives, from situations in which there is only one, almost negligible, counterexample to a 'fact'. Probabilistic modal logics are a way to address this, but they easily end up being both computationally and conceptually complex, for example often lacking the property of compactness. In this paper, we propose a probabilistic modal logic P F KD45, in which the probabilities of the possible worlds range over a finite domain of values, while still allowing the agent to reason about infinitely many options. In this way, the logic remains compact, implying that the agent still has to consider only finitely many possibilities for probability distributions during a reasoning task. We demonstrate a sound, compact and complete axiomatization for P F KD45 and show that it has several appealing features. Then, we discuss an implemented decision procedure for the logic, and provide a small example.

2025, Grazer Philosophische Studien

In this paper, I argue that the nature question and the extent question in the metaphysics of modality (Divers 2013) have broader philosophical implications. To support this claim, I first analyse the distinction between separatism and non-separatism in general, with a particular focus on modal separatism and modal non-separatism. My primary aim is to demonstrate that non-separatism is methodologically more viable. This is because, when considered together, the two questions reveal a significant-if not indispensable-phenomenon underlying the philosophical debate. Finally, I extend the discussion to controversial theories in philosophy, highlighting how the same dialectic emerges in the context of impossibility.

2025, CSP

This is the text of a book aiming to reintegrate the main strands of the philosophy of meaning developed in the Twentieth Century by philosophers like Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, Husserl, and later by Strawson, Searle, and Dummett. As a counterpoint, the work of philosophers like Saul Kripke is considered. Even Donald Williams's trope ontology is considered.

2025, CSP

2025, Cadernos de Estudos Lingüísticos

Neste artigo analisamos o item ‘capaz’ sob um viés semântico-pragmático, sugerindo que ele pode desempenhar três funções diferentes na gramática do Português Brasileiro (PB), tais como: marcador conversacional, negação e modal. Especificamente, aqui, focamos no comportamento modal de ‘capaz’, utilizando como bases teóricas a Semântica de Mundos Possíveis (KRATZER, 1981, 1991, 2012) e as abordagens para os modais do PB de Pires de Oliveira; Scarduelli (2008) e Pessotto (2011a, 2011b, 2015). Verificamos que o item tem força modal de possibilidade e veicula leituras: epistêmica, doxástica, epistêmico-tácita e físico-intelectual. Desse modo, ‘capaz’ é um legítimo modal do PB e merece figurar no rol dos modais das línguas naturais.

2025, Lecture Notes in Computer Science

Although BDI logics have shown many advantages in modelling agent systems, the crucial problem of having computationally ungrounded semantics poses big challenges when extending the theories to multi-agent systems in an interactive, dynamic environment. The root cause lies at the inability of modal languages to refer to the world states which hampers agent reasoning about the connection of its mental attitudes and its world. In this paper, following ideas in hybrid logics, we attempt to readdress the computational grounding problem. Then, we provide a formalism for observations -the only connection between mind and worlds -and expectations -the mental states associated with observations. Finally, we compare our framework with BDI logics.

2025

Conventional meaning determines the “what is said” content an expression used in an appropriate situation makes available. The orthodox story is that an expression’s contribution to truth conditions exhausts the content available from its conventional meaning regardless of what linguistic competence – i.e. practical grasp of and facility with conventional meaning – may actually require. This perspective seems to assume that language is essentially functionally descriptive in some sense. Indeed, most of our familiar analytical machinery assumes, and only cleanly explicates, language’s descriptive function. Natural language, however, is deeply multi-functional, allowing us to do much more than just determine truth conditions as a function of expressions’ conventional meaning. Analytical machinery realigned around situationally correct use might provide a more complete explication of conventional meaning and open the door to layers of information beyond just the orthodox proposition. Here, I generalize some familiar analytical machinery – including Kaplan’s character and Korta & Perry’s reflexive content – to account for functions beyond the descriptive or truth conditional and to provide additional layers of cognitively impactful content following from facility with conventional meaning alone.

2025

This brief review paper highlights the key philosophical dilemmas surrounding the Ship of Theseus paradox. It explores the topic through two primary approaches: Continuity Theory and Component Theory.

2025, Cities

The United Nations launched the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 to address a multitude of complex challenges facing today's world. Concurrently, the concept of smart cities has evolved to embrace advanced digital technologies and artificial intelligence for urban management and sustainability. Within this context, the Metaverse has emerged as a virtual extension of smart cities, offering a revolutionary space to reimagine urban life and governance. This systematic review explores how the Metaverse, as a virtual form of smart cities, aligns with the SDGs. It focuses on identifying potential co-benefits and trade-offs between the Metaverse and SDGs. The results indicate that research primarily focuses on SDGs related to health, education, innovation, sustainable cities, and responsible consumption and production. In contrast, less attention is given to SDGs related to reducing inequalities, climate change, environmental sustainability, peace, and partnership. The synthesis highlights the potential of the Metaverse to enhance smart cities' operational efficiency, transparency, and evidence-based decision-making through big data analytics and virtual collaboration. However, it also identifies risks such as exacerbating disparities and increasing environmental burdens. While the Metaverse can offer transformative solutions for smart urban environments, its benefits must be balanced with equitable access and environmental sustainability to effectively contribute to the SDGs. This requires addressing the digital and technological divide and environmental concerns to foster inclusive urban societies that uphold peace, justice, and strong institutions. The review underscores the need for strategic policy frameworks to mitigate risks and maximize the positive impact of the Metaverse on sustainable and resilient urban development. ☆ This article is part of a special issue entitled: ICSC-CITIES-NUP published in Cities.

2025, PROSODIC CORRELATES OF THE GRAMMATICALIZATION SCALE: A CASE STUDY OF THE SERBIAN LEXICAL, MODAL, AND AUXILIARY USES OF HTETI ('WANT')

In Serbian dialects that allow the variation between infinitival and so-called 'da+present' complements (DPC) (e.g. those of Vojvodina), the verb hteti (Eng. to want) allows for three different kinds of complements, corresponding to its three different uses. In its lexical use, it takes an NP complement; the volitional modal version combines with DPC; and the future auxiliary takes the infinitival complement. Assuming different syntactic structures for all three types of complements, we hypothesize that they exhibit different prosodic features. The hypothesis was tested experimentally by analysing the preboundary lengthening and the behaviour of F0 as signals of different prosodic constituency reflected in the Prosodic Hierarchy (PH). It was predicted that higher units of PH will show higher degree of preboundary lengthening, as well as that the presence of phrase accents and boundary tones will mark the right edge of PhPs and IPs respectively. We recorded 10 students at the University of Novi Sad as they pronounced 10 sentences per each of the three uses of this verb. The data partially confirms our hypothesis, as the modal verb hteti (Eng. to want) followed by DPC lengthens more than the auxiliary and lexical verb hteti (Eng. to want), which are followed by an infinitival and NP complement respectively. In contrast, the F0 contour remains unaffected by these differences, and phrase accents are not identified in any of the uses of the verb hteti (Eng. to want).

2025, Białostockie Studia Literaturoznawcze

Teoria narracji drugoosobowej ma się dobrze. Być może nawet lepiej niż sam przedmiot jej badań. Ma grono oddanych badaczy, podczas gdy eksperymenty literackie tego typu stanowią jednorazowe próby w pisarskich portfolio 1 . Szczególnie współczesny komercyjny rynek literacki nie odnosi się do tych eksperymentów przychylnie 2 . Wybór narracji drugoosobowej pozostaje -posługując się językiem strukturalistów -dystynktywny, naznaczony. Jeśli autor chce ją wykorzystać konceptualnie, wzmaga się "kłopotliwa" wieloznaczność tekstu, a jeśli nie -pojawia się pytanie "czemu to udziwnienie właściwie służy?". Brak satysfakcjonującej odpowiedzi prowadzić może do czytelniczej frustracji. Wielu wydawców, czytelników, a nawet badaczy najchętniej zamknęłoby więc narrację drugoosobową w niszy literackiego postmodernizmu 3 .

2025, FLAP

Noneism is a version of Meinongianism, the view that some things do not exist. Allism is the view that everything exists, including those things that the noneist takes as non-existent. Since , there has been a discussion on whether or not one can translate the noneist theory into the allist theory and if, in that case, the differences between the two remain substantive. In this paper we propose a notion we call Theoretical Equivalence: two theories are theoretically equivalent, relative to an explanandum, if the models they produce to explain it are isomorphic. We take intentional objects -which are often considered as providing a prima facie motivation for Meinongianism -as our explanandum. We argue that noneism and allism are theoretically equivalent with respect to the problem of intentional objects, lending some support to Woodward's [40] translation of the noneist's 'to exist' into the allist's 'to be actually concrete', in the face of recent objections by Priest . We also claim, however, that while in a sense this makes the disagreement between noneism and allism insubstantial, in another sense, it doesn't. The domain or universe of discourse includes a wide variety of objects, existent as well as incomplete and impossible nonexistent objects. A version of this paper was presented at the Logic of Conceivability seminar; thanks to the LoC group for their feedback. In particular, thanks to Arianna Betti, Ilaria Canavotto, Manuel Gustavo Isaac, and especially to Richard Woodward, whose comments have been very helpful.

2025, Linguistics and Philosophy

This paper develops a formal methodology for capturing and representing the semantics of causal expressions in natural languages. Focusing on two causative constructions—covert causatives (change-of-state verbs) and overt causatives (the verb cause)—it provides a proof of concept for analyzing the distinguished meanings of different causative constructions. We adopt the formal framework of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to analyze causality and integrate it into model-theoretic semantics for interpreting causal statements. In our approach, the selection of a cause within a particular construction depends on its inclusion in a sufficient set of conditions that bring about the effect, as well as on specific properties of the cause itself. To formalize this process, we introduce the concept of causative-construction selection (CC-selection), which captures how speakers select a causative construction that aligns with the relational structure between states of affairs. For each relevant condition within the sufficient set, CC-selection determines whether it can be encoded as the cause in a statement articulated through a specific causative construction, thereby describing a particular state of affairs. We argue that CC-selection plays a central role in shaping the meaning of causal statements. By
leveraging the SEM framework, CC-selection effects can be formally explained through contrasts within the structure of a model. For instance, notions of sufficiency and necessity, which play a crucial role in these selections, are rigorously defined within SEM, allowing for a precise account of CC-selection effects. This paper further illustrates how CC-selection accounts for contrastive inference patterns across constructions. By focusing on the two causative constructions central to our discussion, it resolves longstanding puzzles associated with change-of-state verbs. The proposed framework establishes a foundation for the systematic study of causal language, bridging semantics and philosophy while providing tools to investigate the interplay between causative constructions and their associated causal meanings.

2025, Proc. 3th Scandinavian Conference on AI

Ahstract: Well Founded Semantics is shown adequate to capture hypothetical reasoning if we interpret the Well Founded model of a program P as a (possihly incomplete) view of the world. Thus the Well Founded model may he accepted as a partially definite view of the world, and the other extended stahle models as alternative extended consistent views of the world. The original contrihutions of this paper are: showing that Well Founded Semantics is useful for representing hypothetical reasoning prohlems; to present a framework for ...

2025, Travessias Interativas

Resumo: Este trabalho tem por objetivo a investigação do verbo modal poder, a partir de uma abordagem sincrônica, de maneira a descrever seus usos e a demonstrar como o modal teria passado por um processo gradiente de expansão semântico-pragmática. Para tanto, mediante os postulados da perspectiva da (inter)subjetivização ; CUYCKENS; DAVIDSE; VANDELANOTTE, 2010), realizamos uma análise qualitativa da palavra poder em três diferentes corpora da modalidade oral do português brasileiro. Neste trabalho, assumimos que poder é um verbo modal, que pode realizar-se nas seguintes modalidades: deôntica, epistêmica e habilitativa. A partir da identificação da multifuncionalidade do termo poder, observamos, pontualmente, os usos desse modal como pedido e permissão, defendendo que estes estariam, frequentemente, associados a uma ordem atenuada. As permissões são, dessa maneira, regulamentações -que têm como origem o fato de que algo não é obrigatório -proferidas por sujeitos que detêm o poder e podem revelar normas a serem cumpridas. Por sua vez, os pedidos são solicitações realizadas por falantes que desejam algo do outro. Palavras-chave: Multifuncionalidade. (Inter)subjetivização. Verbo modal poder. Pedido e permissão.

2025

The recent debate between Alexy and Ratti provides an excellent opportunity to discuss proportionality, balancing and their substantive ramifications. In addition to critically analysing this debate, we take the opportunity to sustain several propositions that challenge the foundational pillars of Alexy’s «principles theory» and Ratti’s criticisms. Among other points, we argue crucially that: (i) proportionality should not be confused with balancing, as the former imposes limits on the discretion of decision-makers while the latter is an intellectual operation employed to solve normative conflicts; (ii) the structural difference between principles and rules lie in the indeterminacy of the regulated action-type, which explains the symptoms that have been correctly identified thus far; and (iii) neither balancing nor proportionality are conceptually linked to principles (just as rules are not to subsumption), though the structure of principles explains why they are mor likely to be involved in conflicts that can only be solved through balancing.

2025

The recent debate between Alexy and Ratti provides an excellent opportunity to discuss proportionality, balancing and their substantive ramifications. In addition to critically analysing this debate, we take the opportunity to sustain several propositions that challenge the foundational pillars of Alexy's «principles theory» and Ratti's criticisms. Among other points, we argue crucially that: (i) proportionality should not be confused with balancing, as the former imposes limits on the discretion of decision-makers while the latter is an intellectual operation employed to solve normative conflicts; (ii) the structural difference between principles and rules lies in the indeterminacy of the regulated action-type, which explains the symptoms that have been correctly identified thus far; and (iii) neither balancing nor proportionality are conceptually linked to principles (just as rules are not to subsumption), though the structure of principles explains why they are more likely to be involved in conflicts that can only be solved through balancing.

2025, Kindle Independent Publishing Platform

Free book download. xviii + 123 pages. Thirty-six recommendations and over 370 reads on ResearchGate as of March 6, 2025. “In many works spanning more than forty years, Dejnožka has mined, explicated, and examined the ontology of the Analytic tradition. In this book he broadens his scope to consider the sorts of ontological distinction and identity as they were understood by such pre-Analytic philosophers as Suárez, Descartes, Duns Scotus, and Aristotle. He aims to show not only where these philosophers went wrong, or right, but also that, notwithstanding important differences between the Analytic and pre-Analytic positions on these topics, there is a still deeper agreement between them. To my knowledge, very few books have undertaken to show this. Dejnožka’s arguments and insights are, as always, well worth sustained philosophical reflection. Highly recommended.” —Stewart Umphrey. BOOK DESCRIPTION: This book brings the ontological distinctions out of the museum of antiquities and into philosophy today, changing them greatly in the process. Mental distinctions are abolished, and all ontological distinctions are assayed as formal distinctions in the sense of having a foundation in reality. The book includes three previously unpublished essays on the ontological distinctions in Francisco Suárez, René Descartes, and Bertrand Russell. The first two essays are primarily critical and original thinking. The third essay shows how the ontological distinctions apply in the philosophy of Russell. It summarizes and goes beyond my interpretation of Russell in The Ontology of the Analytic Tradition and Its Origins. ABSTRACT OF ESSAY 1: In “On Various Kinds of Distinctions" in Disputationes Metaphysicae, Francisco Suárez admits real distinction, modal distinction, and mental distinction, but rejects formal distinction. I accept real distinction and modal distinction. But I argue against mental distinction and in favor of formal distinction. I hold that his mental distinctions ought to be formal distinctions, and that his modal distinctions are actually a kind of formal distinction. He also needs to be updated. Much of the update is due to Frege, Moore, Russell, and Wittgenstein. Descartes follows Suárez so closely that the critique of Suárez applies to Descartes as well. ABSTRACT OF ESSAY 2: I discuss three Aristotelian versions of Bertrand Russell’s infinite regress of resemblances argument for the existence of universals. The property regress is basically the same as Russell’s. The form regress replaces Russell’s exactly similar properties with exactly similar forms, and the pros hen regress replaces them with exactly similar kinds of pros hen being. The result is that properties, forms, and kinds of pros hen being are all universals that are literally and numerically identical across their instances. Aristotle might well have disagreed, but then he did not see Russell's regress. The concepts of form and of pros hen relation are problematic, especially the concept of formal distinction, which has been notoriously difficult to explain for centuries. I explain it in terms of the modern concept of a truth-ground. The concept of pros hen being is problematic concerning its relation to univocal being and to analogical being. ABSTRACT OF ESSAY 3: This essay is about being qua identity theories in Bertrand Russell. A being qua identity theory is any theory that aims to define, explain, or understand some concept of being, reality, existence, or reference in terms of some concept of identity. Most philosophers know that Quine coined the slogan “no entity without identity,” and that Wittgenstein understood reference in terms of identity criteria. Most also know that Russell was a primary influence on Wittgenstein and Quine on many logical and metaphysical issues. But it is not well known that Russell was also a “no entity without identity” theorist influencing Wittgenstein and Quine on the deepest ontological level. I explain all of Russell’s main ontological phases as belonging to a kind of being qua identity theory which I call modified realism.

2025, Topoi

A truthmaker for a proposition P is exact if it contains nothing irrelevant to P. What are the exact truthmakers for necessitated propositions? This paper makes progress on this issue by showing how to extend Fine's truthmaker semantics for intuitionistic logic to an exact truthmaker semantics for intuitionistic modal logic. The project is of interest also to the classical logician: while all distinctively classical theorems may be true, they differ from the intuitionistic ones in how they are made true. This sheds new light on the status of the T and B axioms.

2025, Književnost i jezik 68/1

The paper analyzes verbs which denote the process of causing emotions or emotional changes in others. The semantic structure of emotionally-active verbs (according to Milenković 2015, 2017) implies the participation of two actants: the causative stimulus (the provoker of the emotion) and the experiencer of emotion (that is, the bearer of a certain emotional state). The research was conducted on a corpus of 242 verbs, whereas the understanding of the meaning structure of emotionally-active verbs was based on recognizing the intention to provoke a certain emotion in another person or to influence a change in his emotional state. The analysis of the material showed that intentionality is not a part of the verb’s lexical meaning, and that its recognition is conditioned by the understanding of the broader situational context in which the verb is used.

2025, U prostoru lingvističke slavistike. Zbornik naučnih radova povodom 65 godina života akademika Predraga Pipera

Relativizacija prostornih odnosa u srpskom jeziku ostvaruje se posredstvom semantički markiranih mesnih zameničkih priloga (gd[j]e, odakle, kuda, kamo) i semantički nemarkiranih odnosnih zamenica (koji, ko, što). Zameničkim prilozima ne mogu se precizirati pozicioni parametri prostora, dok se odnosnim zamenicama kao deklinabilnim kategorijama specifikuju i dinamički i pozicioni parametri prostorne lokalizacije.

2025

Данези М. В поиске значения. Введение в семиотическую теорию и
практику / Пер. с англ.; Под общ. ред. С. Г. Проскурина; Новосиб. гос. ун-т.
Новосибирск, 2010. 192 c.

2025, Social Science Research Network

We model the notion of a "small world" as a context dependent state space embedded into the "grand world". For each situation the decision maker creates a "small world" reflecting the events perceived to be relevant for the act under consideration. The "grand world" is represented by an event space which is a more general construction than a state space. We retain preference axioms similar in spirit to the Savage axioms and obtain, without abandoning linearity of expectations, a subjective expected utility theory which allows for an intuitive distinction between risk and uncertainty. We also obtain separation of subjective probability and utility as in the state space models. JEL classification: D8 and G12.

2025, SSRN Electronic Journal

2025

This work is focused on a specific type of children s storybook literature, specifically realistic works of fiction, in which the plot reflects laws of nature. This paper explores two storybooks : Fish is fish by L. Lionni and The Promise by J. Willis et T. Ross. These two stories express implicitly notions of biological development. An analysis of the fiction and the non-ficiton, which exists in these storybooks, allows us to explore how the story s intrigue as well as certain problematic wording can constitute a starting point for scientific as well as epistemological research on the development of living things.

2025, Future Internet

Researchers are exploring methods that exploit digital twins as all-purpose abstractions for sophisticated modelling and simulation, bringing elements of the real world into the virtual realm. Digital twins are essential elements of the digital transformation of society, which mostly benefit manufacturing, smart cities, healthcare contexts, and in general systems that include humans in the loop. As the metaverse concept continues to evolve, the line separating the virtual and the real will progressively fade away. Considering the metaverse's goal to emulate our social reality, it becomes essential to examine the aspects that characterise real-world interaction practices and explicitly model both physical and social contexts. While the unfolding metaverse may reshape these practices in distinct ways from their real-world counterparts, our position is that it is essential to incorporate social theories into the modelling processes of digital twins within the metaverse. In this work, we discuss our perspective by introducing a digital practice model inspired by the theory of social practice. We illustrate this model by exploiting the scenario of a virtual grocery shop designed to help older adults reduce their social isolation.

2025, Medioevo Europeo

This article investigates how spatial references and story-world building are presented in Illuga saga Gríðarfóstra, a fornaldarsaga composed in the sixteenth century. The analysis of a specific episode is presented, in which the author mentions a peculiar place, namely a mountain pasture located in Denmark. In the first part, the article describes the features of the fornaldarsögur genre, and focuses on the composition of Illuga saga
Gríðarfóstra, its relationship with the sources, and the central literary themes. In the second part the article examines the story-world of the saga, focusing on its geographical themes, using the concept of heterotopia to categorise places like the mountain pasture, within the sphere of supernatural fiction. The analysis couples of heterotopia with other theoretic tools, such as the fictional worlds semantics, to illustrate the role these literary places play in the narrative.

2025, МЕТОД: Московский ежеквартальник трудов из обществоведческих дисциплин / РАН, ИНИОН. – Москва, 2023. – Вып. 13, Т. 3, № 2. – С. 22–27. –

Creation of the sign as semipoiesis
Annotation. In the article, using an example from the text of «Philosophical
Investigations» by L. Wittgenstein, the author explains the logic of the internal laws of semiosis
and shows that sign generation is an immanent property of the sign system itself. The autopoietic approach to the substantiation of semiosis is also supported by the teachings of biosemiotics and molecular genetics about genetic coding. An example of such a sign system is the genetic code, which includes both correlation schemes between nucleotides and amino acids, and zetas and amino acids and proteins, as well as operations for their regulation and subsequent interaction
with the context (environment). For such an understanding of sign systems, an important role is played by the principles of Peirce’s semiotics, which establishes mediation between the object
and the interpretants, as well as the doctrine of «self-forms» («egons»), put forward by a number of researcher
В статье на примере из текста из «Философских исследований»
Л. Витгенштейна автор поясняет логику внутренних закономерностей семиозиса и показывает, что знакопорождение является имманентным свойством самой знаковой системы.
Аутопойетический подход к обоснованию семиозиса также подкрепляется учениями биосемиотики и молекулярной генетики о генетическом кодировании. Примером подобной
знаковой системы может служить генетический код, который включает как схемы соотнесения между нуклеотидами и аминоксилотами, а зетем и аминокислотами и белками, так и
операции по их регуляции и последующему взаимодействию с контекстом (средой). Для такого понимания знаковых систем важную роль играют принципы семиотики Пирса, устанавливающие медиацию между объектом и интепретанотой, а также учение о «самоформах» («эйгонах»), выдвинутое рядом исследователей.

2025, Cultural History

The world of the past as it is lived and experienced is always a challenge for research. The experiential dimension has been particularly relevant to the history of emotions, which has grown into a vibrant area of research over the past few decades. It has its own traditions and theoretical debates, its own classics and its own controversies. The history of emotions has been part of an interdisciplinary field that has been influenced not only by cultural and social history, psychohistory, and medical history, but also (especially in the twenty-first century) by changing views about cognition, embodiment, and sensuality. At the same time, the limitations and inadequacies of the history of emotions have been articulated. In A History of Feelings, Rob Boddice has highlighted the shift from emotions to experience. In the concluding chapter of the book The Value of Experience, he points out: It may be more useful to incorporate the history of emotions, as a subset, into a broader category of scholarly research: experience. It seems to me that the question 'how did it feel?' encompasses more than simply emotion, but also all kinds of sensation, inflected by situated knowledge. 1 The question of experience as an object of historical research is linked to broader shifts in the humanities. The aim of this article is to consider the roots of the history of experience specifically from the perspective of cultural history, where the history of emotions has played a central role.

2025, Electronic Notes in Theoretical Computer Science

Given any symmetric monoidal (closed) category C and any suitable collections W of objects of C, it is shown how to construct C[W], a polynomial such category, the result of freely adjoining to C a system of monoidal indeterminates for every element of W. It is then shown that all of the categories of "possible worlds" used to treat languages that allow for dynamic creation of "new" variables, locations, or names are instances of this construction and hence have appropriate universality properties.