The paper presents an application of game-theoretical ideas to the semantics of natural language, especially the analysis of quantifiers and anaphora. The paper also introduces the idea of games of imperfect information and connects to partial logics.

Since the first chapter of this book presents an intro duction to the present state of game-theoretical semantics (GTS), there is no point in giving a briefer survey here. Instead, it may be helpful to indicate what this volume attempts to do. The first chapter gives a short intro duction to GTS and a survey of what is has accomplished. Chapter 2 puts the enterprise of GTS into new philo sophical perspective by relating its basic ideas to Kant's phi losophy (...) of mathematics, space, and time. Chapters 3-6 are samples of GTS's accomplishments in understanding different kinds of semantical phenomena, mostly in natural languages. Beyond presenting results, some of these chapters also have other aims. Chapter 3 relates GTS to an interesting line of logical and foundational studies - the so-called functional interpretations - while chapter 4 leads to certain important methodological theses. Chapter 7 marks an application of GTS in a more philo sophical direction by criticizing the Frege-Russell thesis that words like "is" are multiply ambiguous. This leads in turn to a criticism of recent logical languages (logical notation), which since Frege have been based on the ambi guity thesis, and also to certain methodological sug gestions. In chapter 8, GTS is shown to have important implications for our understanding of Aristotle's doctrine of categories, while chapter 9 continues my earlier criticism of Chomsky's generative approach to linguistic theorizing. (shrink)

SummaryTruth‐definitions play a crucial role in the foundations of logic and semantics. Tarsik‐type truth‐definitions are not possible to formulate in a usual first‐order language for itself, and they have been criticized because they do not account for what makes them definitions of truth. It has been suggested that truth should instead be characterized by reference to the «language‐games» of verification and falsification. The author's game‐theoretical semantics here explained for formal first‐order languages, can be thought of as a realization of this (...) idea. More technically speaking, GTS can also be thought of as a systematization of the well‐known aepsilon‐delta, definitions in the foundations of analysis. In GTS, truth is not defined by reference to winning a play of a game, but as the existence of a winning strategy in the game for the verifier. In a first‐order language, the game‐theoretical truth‐condition of a sentence S can accordingly be expressed by an explicit second‐order sentence asserting the existence of the Skolem function of S.The semantical games of GTS must be distinguished not only from the «games» of formal proof but also from the «games» in volved in our ordinary activities of verification and falsification. The latter have been modelled as games of inquiry by the author, and they are essentially epistemic games where the meaning of truth is taken for granted and where the aim of the game is to come to know certain truths. To assimilate them to the semantical games constitutive of truth is a form of Meno's paradox. (shrink)

Les articles présentés et traduits dans le présent ouvrage, réunis sous un titre qu'approuva l’auteur lors de sa première publication, portent sur la période qui s’ouvre peu d’années après la publication de Knowledge and Belief et qui s’étend jusqu’aux prémices des découvertes qui ont relancé une recherche particulièrement féconde — la sémantique des jeux, parfois plus connue sous l’acronyme de GTS, et la Logique IF, ou Independance Friendly Logic, développée avec Gabriel Sandu. L’Intentionnalité et les mondes possibles montre jusqu’où la (...) sémantique des mondes possibles permet de rendre compte de l’intentionnalité et d’en explorer les multiples dimensions : les six articles dégagent les méthodes et les directions de recherche ainsi ouvertes. Une postface de la traductrice les met en perspective relativement aux aboutissements actuels des travaux de Hintikka, en explorant sommairement certaines des méthodes et des recherches des deux premières décennies du vingt et unième siècle — occasion de s’apercevoir que l’épistémologie générale et spéciale, l’informatique théorique contemporaine aussi bien que l’exploration de la nature de la métaphore trouvent à se nourrir de la relance permanente du questionnement assurée par l’enquête-Hintikka, et ce, parfois, de manière très surprenante. (shrink)

Inspired by Hintikka’s ideas on constructivism, we are going to ‘effectivize’ the game-theoretic semantics for independence-friendly first-order logic, but in a somewhat different way than he did in the monograph ‘The Principles of Mathematics Revisited’. First we show that Nelson’s realizability interpretation—which extends the famous Kleene’s realizability interpretation by adding ‘strong negation’—restricted to the implication-free first-order formulas can be viewed as an effective version of GTS for FOL. Then we propose a realizability interpretation for IF-FOL, inspired by the so-called (...) ‘trump semantics’ which was discovered by Hodges, and show that this trump realizability interpretation can be viewed as an effective version of GTS for IF-FOL. Finally we prove that the trump realizability interpretation for IF-FOL appropriately generalises Nelson’s restricted realizability interpretation for the implication-free first-order formulas. (shrink)

Typical applications of Hintikka’s game-theoretical semantics give rise to semantic attributes—truth, falsity—expressible in the $\Sigma^{1}_{1}$-fragment of second-order logic. Actually a much more general notion of semantic attribute is motivated by strategic considerations. When identifying such a generalization, the notion of classical negation plays a crucial role. We study two languages, $L_{1}$ and $L_{2}$, in both of which two negation signs are available: $\rightharpoondown $ and $\sim$. The latter is the usual GTS negation which transposes the players’ roles, while the (...) former will be interpreted via the notion of mode. Logic $L_{1}$ extends independence-friendly logic; $\rightharpoondown $ behaves as classical negation in $L_{1}$. Logic $L_{2}$ extends $L_{1}$, and it is shown to capture the $\Sigma^{2}_{1}$-fragment of third-order logic. Consequently the classical negation remains inexpressible in $L_{2}$. (shrink)

We consider two versions of truth as grounded in verification procedures: Dummett's notion of proof as an effective way to establish the truth of a statement and Hintikka's GTS notion of truth as given by the existence of a winning strategy for the game associated with a statement. Hintikka has argued that the two notions should be effective and that one should thus restrict one's attention to recursive winning strategies. In the context of arithmetic, we show that the (...) two notions do not coincide: on the one hand, proofs in PA do not yield recursive winning strategies for the associated game; on the other hand, there is no sound and effective proof procedure that captures recursive GTS truths. We then consider a generalized version of Game Theoretical Semantics by introducing games with backward moves. In this setting, a connection is made between proofs and recursive winning strategies. We then apply this distinction between two kinds of verificationist procedures to a recent debate about how we recognize the truth of Gödelian sentences. (shrink)

The discourse on labor engagement, underutilization, and unemployment has been a prominent focus in development literature, particularly in developing economies. These issues influence migration patterns and gross domestic output and, in some cases, contribute to youth restiveness. This study delves into the intricate relationship between investments in human capital, represented by spending on education and health, and its repercussions on youth employment outcomes in India. We gathered annual data spanning the years 1990 to 2021 from various Indian states. We employed (...) the bootstrap-based bias correction for panel fixed effects estimation techniques to enhance the analytical accuracy. The findings of our investigation reveal that investments in human capital, encompassing both private and government health expenditures as well as expenditures on primary, secondary, and tertiary education, exert significant but varying impacts on youth employment in India. These results carry important policy implications. To effectively address the persistent challenge of youth unemployment in India, it is imperative to prioritize consistent and disproportionate investments in education over health. This shift in focus could prove instrumental in reversing the trend of youth unemployment and fostering sustainable economic growth. (shrink)

Jaakko Hintikka’s work in logic and epistemology has won him the Rolf Schock Prize for Logic and Philosophy, widely viewed as the Nobel of its field. He is also one of only four philosophers this century to be the subject of a volume of the Library of Living Philosophers. Hintikka is professor of philosophy at Boston University.

Jaakko Hintikka’s work in logic and epistemology has won him the Rolf Schock Prize for Logic and Philosophy, widely viewed as the Nobel of its field. He is also one of only four philosophers this century to be the subject of a volume of the Library of Living Philosophers. Hintikka is professor of philosophy at Boston University.

Jaakko Hintikka was born on January 12th, 1929. He received his doctorate from the University of Helsinki under the supervision of Professor G. H. von Wright at the age of 24 in 1953. Hintikka was appointed Professor of philosophy at the University of Helsinki in 1959. Since the late 50s, he has shared his time between Finland and the U.S.A. He was appointed Professor of philosophy at Stanford University in 1964. As from 1970 Hintikka has been permanent (...) research professor of the Academy of Finland. He has published 13 books and about 200 articles, not to mention the various editorial and organizational activities he has played an active role in. The present collection of essays has been edited to honour Jaakko Hintikka on the occasion of his fiftieth birthday. By dedicating a Festschrift to Jaakko Hintikka, the contributors wish to pay homage to this remarkable man whom they see not only as a scholar of prodigious energy and insight, but as a friend, colleague and former teacher. The contributors hope the essays collected here will bring pleasure to the man they are intended to honour. All of the essays touch upon topics Hintikka has taken an direct or indirect interest in, ranging from technical problems of mathematical logic and applications of formal methods through philosophical logic, philosophy of language, epistemology and history of philosophy to philosophical aesthetics. (shrink)

Quel sens donner à l'intrusion quand celle-ci est inséparable d'une mise en danger potentiellement mortelle de ce qui se pense ' un ', mais qu'elle est en même temps nécessaire pour que quelque chose advienne? Quelles perspectives ontologiques, esthétiques et politiques la venue de l'autre ouvre-t-elle alors qu'il peut nous mettre ' hors de nous '? Comment, de fait, l'intrus ne vient-il pas toujours d'ailleurs? La lecture de L'Intrus de Jean-Luc Nancy et des liens qui se tissent entre le philosophe, (...) la réalisatrice Claire Denis et les réalisateurs Nicolas Klotz et Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche, permet d'envisager comment la notion d'ex-criture donne lieu à des gestes cinématographiques: greffe, adoption, adaptation ou encore intégration. (shrink)

An evening discussion between professors Jaakko Hintikka and Simo Knuuttila on September 2, 2007, at the Helsinki conference: Knuuttila: Ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for inviting us to this event and for this opportunity to discuss the latest volume of the Library of Living Philosophers, which was published last spring. The title of the volume is “The Philosophy of Jaakko Hintikka”. Probably most people here know this series, which was founded in 1939 by P. A. Schilpp. The idea (...) of the volumes is to invite some prominent philosophers to describe their lives and ideas and then ask other philosophers to write and comment on topics which the first author has written about. Then the philosopher to whom the book is dedicated answers and discusses these other people’s papers about his or her philosophy. These volumes gradually became a very popular series which most philosophical libraries wanted to have. It was considered such a good idea, giving rise to one of the most prestigious series in philosophy. It is also considered as a kind of philosophical honor for the philosopher to be chosen to be among these living philosophers. The books always have the same structure; first, an intellectual autobiography, pretty extensive, then the papers on the basic author’s philosophy and, last, the papers are answered separately. So there is a kind of discussion going on. The book on Jaakko Hintikka’s philosophy consists of almost 1000 pages. It is also available as a paperback. Now, I have prepared some questions. (shrink)

The following analysis shows how developments in epistemic logic can play a nontrivial role in cognitive neuroscience. We argue that the striking correspondence between two modes of identification, as distinguished in the epistemic context, and two cognitive systems distinguished by neuroscientific investigation of the visual system (the "where" and "what" systems) is not coincidental, and that it can play a clarificatory role at the most fundamental levels of neuroscientific theory.

Most current work in epistemology deals with the evaluation and justification of information already acquired. In this book, Jaakko Hintikka instead discusses the more important problem of how knowledge is acquired in the first place. His model of information-seeking is the old Socratic method of questioning, which has been generalized and brought up-to-date through the logical theory of questions and answers that he has developed. Hintikka also argues that philosophers' quest for a definition of knowledge is ill-conceived and (...) that the entire notion of knowledge should be replaced by the concept of information. He offers an analysis of the different meanings of the concept of information and of their interrelations. The result is a new and illuminating approach to the field of epistemology. (shrink)

This book, written by one of philosophy's pre-eminent logicians, argues that many of the basic assumptions common to logic, philosophy of mathematics and metaphysics are in need of change. It is therefore a book of critical importance to logical theory. Jaakko Hintikka proposes a new basic first-order logic and uses it to explore the foundations of mathematics. This new logic enables logicians to express on the first-order level such concepts as equicardinality, infinity, and truth in the same language. The (...) famous impossibility results by Gödel and Tarski that have dominated the field for the last sixty years turn out to be much less significant than has been thought. All of ordinary mathematics can in principle be done on this first-order level, thus dispensing with the existence of sets and other higher-order entities. (shrink)

... to discuss the state of epistemology, inspired by new perspectives and possibilities opened by Hintikka's recent papers on the study of epistemic logic, information, rationality, and inquiry as questioning."--Page 4 of cover.

This book, written by one of philosophy's pre-eminent logicians, argues that many of the basic assumptions common to logic, philosophy of mathematics and metaphysics are in need of change. It is therefore a book of critical importance to logical theory. Jaakko Hintikka proposes a new basic first-order logic and uses it to explore the foundations of mathematics. This new logic enables logicians to express on the first-order level such concepts as equicardinality, infinity, and truth in the same language. The (...) famous impossibility results by Gödel and Tarski that have dominated the field for the last sixty years turn out to be much less significant than has been thought. All of ordinary mathematics can in principle be done on this first-order level, thus dispensing with the existence of sets and other higher-order entities. (shrink)

I LOGIC IN PHILOSOPHY— PHILOSOPHY OF LOGIC i. On the relation of logic to philosophy I n this book, the consequences of certain logical insights for ...

Recent years have seen a tremendous growth in international scholarly communication, especially perhaps in Europe. On the one hand, the technical means of communication have undergone a major revolution. Scholars and scientists can communicate almost instantly via phone, fax and especially by e-mail, and post their results on their websites instead of having to wait for months and sometimes years to have them published. On the other hand, various institutional frameworks have been created for the purpose of fostering international scientific (...) communication and cooperation. These institutional arrangements have typically been supported by responsible governments. One unspoken or spoken motive (among others) in encouraging international exchanges - especially in the humanities and social sciences - is the expectation that the new technical and institutional improvements in communication not only facilitate research and scholarship but directly or indirectly contribute to the discussion of important cultural, educational and social issues in the different participating countries, and perhaps even help people and peoples to cope with them. (shrink)

One enduring legacy of the twentieth century will be the slow, certain transformation of the world from insular civilizations to interactive societies enmeshed in global systems of electronic communication, economics, and politics. Financial news from Thailand or Brazil is often more important globally than political events in the old centers of power. Some bemoan the uncertainty and flux of all this. However, the mutual definition of the world’s societies presents an extraordinary opportunity to humanize a situation that all too quickly (...) could degenerate into a Weberian ‘iron cage’ of truly global proportions. What contribution can the world’s great philosophical traditions make toward humanity’s common task of civilizing the rise of globalization? Here the ancient concept of paideia walks upon the stage of the twenty-first century. (shrink)