Does vagueness underlie the mass/count distinction?

Synthese 193 (1):185-203 (2016)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Does vagueness underlie the mass/count distinction? My answer is no. I motivate this answer in two ways. First, I argue against Chierchia’s recent attempt to explain the distinction in terms of vagueness. Second, I give a more general argument that no such account will succeed

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 91,386

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Introduction to 'Mass and Count in Linguistics, Philosophy, and Cognitive Science'.Friederike Moltmann - 2020 - In Mass and Count in Linguistics, Philosophy, and Cognitive Science. Amsterdam:
Counting, Measuring And The Semantics Of Classifiers.Susan Rothstein - 2010 - The Baltic International Yearbook of Cognition, Logic and Communication 6:1-42.
Count Nouns and Mass Nouns.H. W. Noonan - 1978 - Analysis 38 (4):167-172.
Count Nouns - Mass Nouns, Neat Nouns - Mess Nouns.Fred Landman - 2011 - The Baltic International Yearbook of Cognition, Logic and Communication 6:12.
Bare nouns and number in Dëne Sųłiné.Andrea Wilhelm - 2008 - Natural Language Semantics 16 (1):39-68.
Talk About Stuffs & Things: The Logic of Mass and Count Nouns.Kathrin Koslicki - 1995 - Dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Analytics

Added to PP
2015-04-26

Downloads
104 (#164,656)

6 months
5 (#629,136)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

David Liebesman
University of Calgary

References found in this work

Generalized quantifiers and natural language.John Barwise & Robin Cooper - 1981 - Linguistics and Philosophy 4 (2):159--219.
Plural predication.Thomas J. McKay - 2006 - New York: Oxford University Press.
Brutal Composition.Ned Markosian - 1998 - Philosophical Studies 92 (3):211 - 249.
The Problem of the Many.Peter Unger - 1980 - Midwest Studies in Philosophy 5 (1):411-468.

View all 22 references / Add more references