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9 - A Typology of Semantic Entities

from Part V - Typologizing and Ontologizing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2022

By
Jessica Rett
Edited by
Daniel Altshuler
Daniel Altshuler
Affiliation:
University of Oxford
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Summary

The goal of this paper is to discuss which basic semantic entities we should include in our formal semantic ontology, and on which principles we should include them (cf. Bach 1986b). The vast majority of formal theories employ individuals as a basic type; they represent quantification over, modification of, and reference to individuals. But many theories include additional types or entities, including possible worlds, but also less common ones like vectors. Some papers have argued that types should be constrained or reduced; others that they should be proliferated. I present some representative arguments on both sides and suggest a path forward in evaluating them against one another.

Keywords

semantic ontologymetasemanticstype theoryentitieseventstimessituationsindividualsdegreespossible worlds
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Linguistics Meets Philosophy , pp. 277 - 301
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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