Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: ABSTRACT I explore constructions which contain an embedded disjunction or , which is interpreted as , where is a possibility modal whose flavor is epistemic, circumstantial, or deontic. I show that no extant theory can account for these interpretations. I argue that the best way to do so is with a theory on which or simply means . In addition to accounting for the novel cases I discuss, this theory explains both wide‐ and narrow‐scope free choice inferences, in a similar way to the theories of Zimmermann (2000), Geurts (2005), and Goldstein (2019) which it builds on. It also accounts for recent observations about the relation between disjunction and possibility from Degano et al. (2025) and Feinmann (2023).
Source: Philosophical Perspectives
DOI: 10.1111/phpe.12213
Author: Matthew Mandelkern
Institution: New York University
Language: English
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4411263449