Previous studies have analyzed variable use of the infinitive versus the subjunctive in clauses following the preposition para (‘for, in order to’) in Spanish in terms of discourse, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic factors. However, no study has analyzed this phenomenon according to extralinguistic factors, nor determined which linguistic factors are the most significant predictors of this va...

The above dictionary characterization of alethic modalities states the central notions of alethic modal logic: necessity, and other notions that are usually thought of as being definable in terms of necessity and Boolean negation: impossibility, contingency, and possibility. The syntax of modal propositional logic is inductively defined over a denumerable set of sentence letters p0, p1, p2, . ....

In a series of publications, which appeared in the last 3 years 1 Jerry Fodor launched an attack at what many believe is the core of Darwinian theory of evolution – the theory of natural selection. Fodor complains that the theory of natural selection “can’t explain the distribution of phenotypic traits in biological populations” (Fodor, 2008, p.11) and his main argument, slightly simplified 2 ,...

At the beginning of section 2, there is a conflation of different concepts of possibility. If we grant that imaginability is conceivability (in the sense of being describable without any logical contradictions), if we pass over “practical” possibility as a non-defined term, and grant that by “physically” possible Zahavi very likely means “nomologically” possible, it still would present a major ...

Truthmakers for Modal Truths: You could be going for a walk right now. This seems true—but what makes it true? Many have proposed that it is true in virtue of the existence of some possible world (beyond the actual world) where you are going for a walk now; or else, because there is some abstract, representational entity which represents you as going for a walk now. I think this is mistaken. I ...

Abstract On an influential line of thinking tracing back to Ramsey, conditionals are closely linked the attitude supposition. When applied counterfactuals, this view suggests a subjunctive version so-called Ramsey test: probability counterfactual If A, would B ought be equivalent B, under supposition that A. I present collapse result for any endorses test. Starting from plausible assumptions, s...

1 Mandative constructions: Delimiting the object of the study Mandative constructions express that a certain action (should) be performed or a certain state be achieved. In terms of illocutionary acts, they are directives. They can be independent or dependent. The verbal syntagm of independent mandative constructions is either in the imperative or in the subjunctive mood (e.g. close the window,...