Related papers: Pragmatic Nonsense
Nonmonotonic reasoning is a pattern of reasoning that allows an agent to make and retract (tentative) conclusions from inconclusive evidence. This paper gives a possible-worlds interpretation of the nonmonotonic reasoning problem based on…
Classically, two propositions are logically equivalent precisely when they are true under the same logical valuations. Also, two logical valuations are distinct if, and only if, there is a formula that is true according to one valuation,…
In this short paper we will discuss the similarities and differences between two semantic approaches to modal logics - non-deterministic semantics and restricted non-deterministic semantics. Generally speaking, both kinds of semantics are…
A formal theory of meaning (the process of knowledge accumulation) as multiplicative chaos is proposed. The epistemological process is understood as the process of subjective extraction of some knowledge from the incoming information. The…
One of the reasons for the heated debates around the interpretations of quantum theory is a simple confusion between the notions of formalism versus interpretation. In this note, we make a clear distinction between them and show that there…
Recent work has demonstrated the viability of using crowdsourcing as a tool for evaluating the truthfulness of public statements. Under certain conditions such as: (1) having a balanced set of workers with different backgrounds and…
Recent advances in Bayesian probability theory and its application to cognitive science in combination with the development of a new generation of computational tools and methods for probabilistic computation have led to a 'probabilistic…
Drawing appropriate defeasible inferences has been proven to be one of the most pervasive puzzles of natural language processing and a recurrent problem in pragmatics. This paper provides a theoretical framework, called ``stratified…
"Standard" information theory says nothing about the semantic content of information. Nevertheless, applications such as evolutionary theory demand consideration of precisely this aspect of information, a need that has motivated a largely…
Figurative language (e.g., irony, hyperbole, understatement) is ubiquitous in human communication, resulting in utterances where the literal and the intended meanings do not match. The Rational Speech Act (RSA) framework, which explicitly…
A key assumption fuelling optimism about the progress of large language models (LLMs) in accurately and comprehensively modelling the world is that the truth is systematic: true statements about the world form a whole that is not just…
The persisting gap between the formal and the informal mathematics is due to an inadequate notion of mathematical theory behind the current formalization techniques. I mean the (informal) notion of axiomatic theory according to which a…
In the framework of propositional {\L}ukasiewicz logic, a suitable notion of implicit definability, tailored to the intended real-valued semantics and referring to the elements of its domain, is introduced. Several variants of implicitly…
The paper reconceptualizes pragmatics not as a subordinate, third dimension of meaning, but as a dynamic interface through which language operates as a socially embedded tool for action. With the emergence of large language models (LLMs) in…
Classical interpretations of Goedel's formal reasoning imply that the truth of some arithmetical propositions of any formal mathematical language, under any interpretation, is essentially unverifiable. However, a language of general,…
In this work, we argue that ignorance can be inherently understood as a hyperintensional notion. When faced with two logically or necessarily equivalent propositions, an agent may be ignorant of one while not of the other. To capture…
Practicing mathematicians often assume that mathematical claims, when they are true, have good reasons to be true. Such a state of affairs is "unreasonable", in Wigner's sense, because basic results in computational complexity suggest that…
I discuss the design of the method of entropic inference as a general framework for reasoning under conditions of uncertainty. The main contribution of this discussion is to emphasize the pragmatic elements in the derivation. More…
The paper proposes and studies new classical, type-free theories of truth and determinateness with unprecedented features. The theories are fully compositional, strongly classical (namely, their internal and external logics are both…
Mathematics is a limited component of solutions to real-world problems, as it expresses only what is expected to be true if all our assumptions are correct, including implicit assumptions that are omnipresent and often incorrect.…