Natural Density and the Quantifier “Most”

Journal of Logic, Language and Information 29 (4):511-523 (2020)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

This paper proposes a formalization of the class of sentences quantified by most, which is also interpreted as proportion of or majority of depending on the domain of discourse. We consider sentences of the form “Most A are B”, where A and B are plural nouns and the interpretations of A and B are infinite subsets of \. There are two widely used semantics for Most A are B: \ > C \) and \ > \dfrac{C}{2} \), where C denotes the cardinality of a given finite set X. Although is more descriptive than, it also produces a considerable amount of insensitivity for certain sets. Since the quantifier most has a solid cardinal behaviour under the interpretation majority and has a slightly more statistical behaviour under the interpretation proportional of, we consider an alternative approach in deciding quantity-related statements regarding infinite sets. For this we introduce a new semantics using natural density for sentences in which interpretations of their nouns are infinite subsets of \, along with a list of the axiomatization of the concept of natural density. In other words, we take the standard definition of the semantics of most but define it as applying to finite approximations of infinite sets computed to the limit.

Other Versions

No versions found

Links

PhilArchive

    This entry is not archived by us. If you are the author and have permission from the publisher, we recommend that you archive it. Many publishers automatically grant permission to authors to archive pre-prints. By uploading a copy of your work, you will enable us to better index it, making it easier to find.

    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 106,951

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Analytics

Added to PP
2020-01-04

Downloads
31 (#820,567)

6 months
3 (#1,189,755)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Citations of this work

Modal Logic with “Most”.Xiaoxuan Fu & Zhiguang Zhao - forthcoming - Studia Logica:1-41.
Most-intersection of countable sets.Ahmet Çevik & Selçuk Topal - 2021 - Journal of Applied Non-Classical Logics 31 (3-4):343-354.

Add more citations

References found in this work

Begriffsschrift.Gottlob Frege - 1967 - In Jean Van Heijenoort, From Frege to Gödel. Cambridge,: Harvard University Press. pp. 1-83.
Completeness of an ancient logic.John Corcoran - 1972 - Journal of Symbolic Logic 37 (4):696-702.
What is a syllogism?Timothy J. Smiley - 1973 - Journal of Philosophical Logic 2 (1):136 - 154.
Begriffsschrift, a Formula Language, Modeled upon that of Arithmetic, for Pure Thought [1879].Gottlob Frege - 1879 - From Frege to Gödel: A Source Book in Mathematical Logic 1931:1--82.

View all 31 references / Add more references