Measurement and Modality: The Scalar Basis of Modal Semantics.

摘要

This dissertation argues that modal expressions and gradable expressions in English can and should be treated using the same semantic apparatus. The formal theory that I develop is closely related to standard theories of gradability, comparison, and measurement which are built on abstract degrees. However, I show that certain issues are clarified by taking an (essentially equivalent) algebraic perspective which derives degrees from structures built around binary orders. This approach, in turn, will allows us to pose new questions and derive new conclusions regarding the structures underlying epistemic, deontic, and bouletic modals.