Definite Descriptions and Attitude Reports in Situation Semantics

  • Published : 1999.06.30

Abstract

In this paper I will seek to show that situation theoretic analysis of the attitudes can finely describe references of definite descriptions in attitude reports: co-reference, mis-reference, and speaker's reference. Situation theoretic concepts of a proposition and a resource situation provide excellent means to account for these references: Proposition, which is the combination of a type and an assignment, can combine linguistic and non-linguistic information; Resource situation, sometimes realized as speaker's wrong knowledge situation about an individual, can serve to explain idiosyncratic aspects of attitude reports.

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