Book Reviews Not Exactly: In Praise of Vagueness
نویسندگان
چکیده
Let’s start off by setting the scene for this book. A term is generally regarded as vague if it admits borderline cases, that is, cases where speakers are reluctant to say either that the term definitely applies or definitely does not apply. An example is the expression bright, say applied to lights. Although some lights are definitely bright, and others are definitely dim, there are in-between cases which seem to be neither bright nor dim. Borderline vagueness is often associated with the notion of tolerance, in the sense that small changes in objects don’t affect the applicability of a vague term. Thus, suppose my sitting room light is definitely bright and I turn down the dimmer a very tiny fraction; then the light will still be regarded as bright. This principle of tolerance gives rise to a puzzling situation: If I keep on turning down the dimmer, small step by small step, the diminution in brightness will be imperceptible at each step. Thus, if the light is bright at step n, then tolerance dictates that it will also be bright at step n+ 1. Yet inevitably at some stage in this process the light will no longer be bright—indeed, it might be entirely extinguished. Situations like this are often discussed under the heading of the sorites paradox. van Deemter, Kees. 2011. Not exactly: In praise of vagueness. Computational Linguistics, uncorrected proof.
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Not Exactly: In Praise of Vagueness
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تاریخ انتشار 2011