Ambiguity vs. Generality: Removal of a Logical Confusion

Canadian Journal of Philosophy 14 (2):295 - 313 (1984)
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Abstract

Ambiguous terms are applicable to different kinds of things, but so are general terms, since a general kind may include various species. Thus a bank may be the side of a river or a certain kind of financial institution, and an animal may be a dog or a cat. Similarly, an ambiguous sentence is true in different kinds of situations, and so is a general sentence in that different specific situations may make the same general sentence true. Thus the sentence, The bank collapsed yesterday,’ can be true of different varieties of banks, and the sentence, The animal is untrained,’ can be true of different varieties of animals. These similarities of ambiguity and generality have led many linguists and philosophers to confuse the two. Basic to this confusion is a failure to notice a difference in the scopes of disjunctions involved in ambiguity and generality.

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Citations of this work

The Readings of plural noun phrases in English.Brendan S. Gillon - 1987 - Linguistics and Philosophy 10 (2):199 - 219.
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A Non-Test for Ambiguity.Arnold M. Zwicky & Jerrold M. Sadock - 1987 - Canadian Journal of Philosophy 17 (1):185 - 187.

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References found in this work

Opacity, coreference, and pronouns.Barbara Hall Partee - 1970 - Synthese 21 (3-4):359 - 385.
Approaches to Natural Language.K. J. J. Hintikka, J. M. E. Moravcsik & P. Suppes - 1973 - Tijdschrift Voor Filosofie 35 (3):666-668.
Ambiguity and indifference.Alan Reeves - 1975 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 53 (3):220 – 237.

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