Abstract

This squib discusses the semantics of ability modals in relation to the law of distribution over disjunction and free choice effects. Most current analyses of free choice need distribution over disjunction as a theorem for modals in order to correctly derive free choice inferences. Famously, however, ability modals have been argued to fail to meet distribution over disjunction (Kenny 1976). The squib explores to what extent free choice abilities are dependent on the distribution property. EARLY ACCESS

Highlights

  • This squib discusses the semantics of ability modals in relation to the law of distribution over disjunction and free choice effects

  • I explore the generality of the phenomenon by turning to a particular constraint on free choice inferences that is left implicit in a dominant approach

  • There are approaches that think the free choice effect is due to lexical semantics, either of disjunction (Zimmermann 2000, Geurts 2005) or of the existential operator (Aloni 2003, Simons 2005, Barker 2011)

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Summary

Free choice disjunction

The classical puzzle of free choice permission is that while (1) is not valid in any classical deontic logic, it seems valid for the corresponding natural language sentences, as in (2) (Kamp 1973). [p ∨ q] ⇒ p ∧ q (2) You may pick an apple or a pear a. The generality of the phenomenon is one reason why large parts of the literature seek an explanation of the free choice effect in the interaction of existential quantificational force and disjunction. In this squib, I explore the generality of the phenomenon by turning to a particular constraint on free choice inferences that is left implicit in a dominant approach

Distribution over disjunction
Ability and distribution over disjunction
Homogeneity and accidental success
Conclusion

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