Open AccessOrdering combination for modal comparison
Author(s) -
Graham Katz,
Paul Pörtner,
Aynat Rubinstein
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
proceedings from semantics and linguistic theory
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2163-5951
pISSN - 2163-5943
DOI - 10.3765/salt.v0i0.2647
Subject(s) - modal , semantics (computer science) , focus (optics) , modality (human–computer interaction) , computer science , theoretical computer science , algorithm , algebra over a field , natural language processing , artificial intelligence , mathematics , programming language , pure mathematics , chemistry , physics , polymer chemistry , optics
The well-known ordering semantics for modality has recently been challenged by a number of puzzles which may cast doubt on the viability of this approach. We investigate the properties of the ordering relations used in ordering semantics with a focus on how to derive appropriate orderings based on intuitively correct premises. We use these tools to propose solutions to two of the puzzles and discuss how they relate to other puzzles that have been raised in the literature, and to modal semantics more generally.