Description
Book SynopsisWhat does ''if'' mean? It is one of the most commonly used words in the English language, in itself a sign to the importance of conditional thinking to human cognitive life. We make conditional statements, ask conditional questions, and issue conditional orders. We need to think and talk conditionally for many purposes, from everyday decision-making to mathematical proof. Yet the meaning of conditionals has been debated for thousands of years. Suppose and Tell brings together ideas from philosophy, linguistics, and psychology to present a controversial new approach to understanding conditionals. It argues that in using ''if'' we rely on psychological heuristics, methods which are fast and frugal and mostly, but not always, reliable. As a result philosophers and linguists have been led astray in theorizing about conditionals through trusting faulty data generated by such methods and prematurely rejecting simple theories on the basis of merely apparent counterexamples. This book shows how one such simple theory of conditionals can explain the data, and draws wider implications for the nature of meaning and its non-transparency to native speakers, vagueness in thought and language, and the need for semantics to attend to the unreliable heuristics underlying our judgments.
Trade Reviewthis is a powerful book, rich with ideas and sophisticated arguments . . . Philosophers and linguists interested in conditionals are encouraged—unconditionally—to form their own opinion about the arguments that this book provides; it is a rewarding read. * Malte Willer, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *
Table of ContentsPreface Part I: If 1: The Value of Conditionals 2: The Suppositional Rule 3: Consequences of the Suppositional Rule 4: Heuristics within Heuristics 5: Conditional Testimony 6: The Role of Conditional Propositionals 7: More Challenges 8: Interactions between Plain Conditionals and Quantifiers Part II: Would If 9: Conditionals and Abduction 10: The Interaction of 'If' and 'Would': Semantics and Logic 11: The Interaction of 'If' and 'Would': Heuristics 12: Is 'Would' Hyperintensional? 13: More on the Interaction of 'Would' with Context 14: Thought Experiments and 'Would' 15: Worlds and Meaning 16: Conclusion: Semantics, Heuristics, Pragmatics
