Ranked ordering sources and embedded modality

Drew Reisinger

doi:10.3765/plsa.v1i0.3721

Abstract

I present an ordering semantics for modality in which possible worlds are ordered by ordering sources augmented with a partial order structure. This extension of Kratzer’s (1991) ordering semantics allows propositions to contribute to the ideal defined by an ordering source with differing degrees of priority and allows this priority relation to vary with the world of evaluation. Although the * operator of Katz et al. (2012) also allows ordering sources to be combined with different degrees of priority, I show that it does not account for a variant of Goble’s (1996) Medicine Problem in which a modal is embedded under an attitude verb. I also extend the investigation by Katz et al. (2012) into the combinatorial structure of complex ordering sources by proposing a generalization of their * operator for partially ordered ordering sources.

Highlights

In this paper, I present the Embedded Medicine Problem, an extension of Goble’s (1996) Medicine Problem in deontic logic that demonstrates the need for ordering source priorities that can be shifted by intensional operators
I show how ordering sources augmented with a partial order structure, which I will call ranked ordering sources, meet this need, and I present a mechanism by which ranked ordering sources induce orderings on possible worlds
I have presented the Embedded Medicine Problem, which suggests that ordering source priorities are not just fixed at the level of the utterance and can be manipulated by intensional operators such as attitude verbs

Summary

Introduction

I present the Embedded Medicine Problem, an extension of Goble’s (1996) Medicine Problem in deontic logic that demonstrates the need for ordering source priorities that can be shifted by intensional operators.

Background

Conclusion and future work