Circumstantial and temporal dependence in counterfactual modals

Circumstantial and Temporal Dependence in Counterfactual Modals

“Counterfactual” readings of might/could have were previously analyzed using metaphysical modal bases. This paper presents examples and scenarios where the assumptions of such a branching-time semantics are not met, because there are facts at the base world and time which exclude the complement of the modal being true or becoming true. Additional arguments show that counterfactual readings are ...

Counterfactual Dependence and Arrow

We argue that a semantics for counterfactual conditionals in terms of comparative overall similarity faces a formal limitation due to Arrow’s impossibility theorem from social choice theory. According to Lewis’s account, the truth-conditions for counterfactual conditionals are given in terms of the comparative overall similarity between possible worlds, which is in turn determined by various as...

Schedules in a Temporal Interpretation of Modals

Events and worlds, as employed in Condoravdi 2002 for a temporal interpretation of modals, are analyzed as schedules of eventuality-types. Sets of schedules that provide a basis for context change interpretations are investigated, including schedules truncated at evaluation time. Finite schedules are hypothesized to constitute a basis, suggesting a semantic reformulation in terms of strings.

Temporal Interpretation of Modals - Modals for the Present and for the Past

Judge dependence , epistemic modals , and predicates of personal taste

Predicates of personal taste (fun, tasty) and epistemic modals (might, must) share a similar analytical difficulty in determining whose taste or knowledge is being expressed. Accordingly, they have parallel behavior in attitude reports and in a certain kind of disagreement. On the other hand, they differ in how freely they can be linked to a contextually salient individual, with epistemic modal...