MLC Seminar

Speaker: Dean McHugh
Title: Disjunction and Modality: A Solution to Zimmerman’s Problem
Date:
Time: 16:00 - 17:30
Location: SP107 F1.15 (ILLC Seminar Room)

Abstract: This talk is concerned with disjunctions of universal modals, such as “You have to clean your room or you have to walk the dog” and disjunctions of conditionals, such as If Alice dances, Charlie will dance, or if Bob dances, Charlie will dance”. We aim to provide a uniform account of their surprising behaviour. Our proposal combines three independently-attested components. Firstly, disjunction's dynamic effect, familiar from presupposition projection: when we evaluate a disjunction “A or B”, we typically interpret B assuming the negation of A, and optionally, also interpret A assuming the negation of B. Secondly, the fact that disjunctions often receive a conjunctive interpretation, familiar from free choice phenomena. Thirdly, that modal bases are restricted to local contexts.