Logical Form In Natural Language (Bradford Books)

William G. Lycan

ISBN 10: 0262121085 / ISBN 13: 9780262121088

Published by The MIT Press, Cambridge MA/ London, 1984

About this Item

348pp. 1st--NAP. Appendix, "Non-Truth-Functional Sentence Operators", pp. 275-294; Notes, pp.295-328; References, pp. 329-342; Index, pp. 343-348. Brown cloth with bright gilt lettering on spine.Only peccadilloes are 1/4" bit of cloth rubbed off at lower right front corner (gray board, which does not stand out amidst brown-colored cloth; spine heel has 1/8" diminished brown strip across it (looks like sunned bit, as if dw was riding high when book on sunny shelf, else dustwrapper covers it and is not itself sunned); binding relaxed between pp. 18-19 and 318-319, else binding of sewn signatures strong. Shiny white dustwrapper not price-clipped (no price), with title lettering (on the upward slant) in white over dark brown and in turquoise over light brown (on upward slant) on upper half front cover; author name lettering (on upward slant) in dark brown over light brown across middle front cover; design of stacked cubes on lower half right front cover, with cubes in 6 shades of brown and two shades of turquoise; minor sunning to left spine edge and onto rear cover (1/4"); light rubbing wear down right front cover edge; light wear across heel of spine and at lower corners of covers and top left rear cover corner; 1/2" tear down top right front cover corner, with wear; wrinkle wear across top spine end with small piece missing at top right spine corner and small tear down top left spine corner; some minor horizontal bends to dw across top edges (dw riding too high): describes much worse than it is, tears have been backed with archival tape and dw is now in Brodart mylar which forgives transgressions generously. No previous owner names. Clean text. Solid copy.

Seller Inventory # 001046

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Logical Form In Natural Language (Bradford Books)
• Publisher: The MIT Press, Cambridge MA/ London
• Publication Date: 1984
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262121085
• ISBN 13: 9780262121088
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good-

About this title

Synopsis

In this book, a well-known and highly respected philosopher details the complicated anatomy of linguistic meaning, showing how its elements fit together; he explores the interface between "languages" considered as formal systems and the linguistic activities of human beings in speech situations; and he defends the autonomy of linguistic semantics as a branch of scientific psychology.

The book's first Part sets out and defends the truth-theoretic method in semantics, arguing that the notion of a sentence's truth-condition lies at the core of meaning.

Part Two considers a number of apparent differences between formal and natural languages, having chiefly to do with the context-bound features of natural-language semantics, and attempts to reconcile them. It provides a definite focus to the semantics/pragmatics distinction, and argues that few if any of the pragmatic phenomena investigated by linguists will need to be represented in semantic theory. The author offers plausible and in some cases novel solutions to the technical problems that have plagued the semantics/pragmatics border.

Part Three portrays the role of semantics in psychology and the relation of semantics to human speakers' internal functional organization. Further, the author shows how a sentence's truth-condition meshes with each of the other aspects of its meaning, and argues that traditional theories of meaning which have focused on some of these other aspects should be regarded as mutually complementary components of linguistic theory rather than being treated as rival accounts of a common subject-matter.

William G. Lycan is Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. A Bradford Book.

About the Author

William G. Lycan is Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.