Publisher Description

Philosophers and logicians have long debated how best to understand conditional or hypothetical sentences. William G. Lycan has a distinctive approach to this debate, attending not just to the semantics of such sentences, but equally to their syntax. He shows how insights from linguistic theory help to illuminate problems about the meaning and function of conditionals. For instance, philosophers and logicians have had problems analysing the locutions 'only if','unless', and 'even if'. Lycan sets out a general semantic theory of conditionals which works for all such sentences; he assigns meanings to them in a way that explains how and why those meaningsdepend upon features of utterance context. According to Lycan's theory the 'if'-clauses refer to items called 'events', 'circumstances', or 'conditions'. Real Conditionals gives at last the definitive presentation of this original approach to a topic at the intersection of philosophy, logic, and linguistics. Lycan's characteristically lively and witty expository style ensures that it can be enjoyed by readers from all three disciplines.

Author Biography

William Lycan is William Rand Kenan, Jr. Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina.

Table of Contents

Preface, Acknowledgements1: The Syntax of Conditional Sentences2: Truth Conditions: The Event Theory3: Truth Conditions: Reality and Modus Ponens4: In Defense of Truth-Value5: A Beautiful But False Theory of 'Even If'6: An Unbeautiful But Less Easily Refuatable Theory of 'Even If'7: The 'Indicative'/'Subjunctive' Distinction8: The Riverboat PuzzleAppendix: 'Nonconditional Conditionals' (with Michael L. Geis)Revisionary Postscript on Nonconditional ConditionalsBibliography, Index

Review

There's alot to like about this book, not least its witty, even charming, style. Lycan considers more examples, from more diverse sources, than most writers. The theory he presents is innovative and at least aims to be comprehensive. And of course there are some good arguments for it. The Philosophical Review Real Conditionals is a great contribution to the literature, and if it causes more theorists to pay serious attention to Lycan's Event Theory, that would be an excellent consequence. The Philosophical Review

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Brings together the fields of philosophy, logic, and language.

Long Description

Philosophers and logicians have long debated how best to understand conditional or hypothetical sentences. William G. Lycan has a distinctive approach to this debate, attending not just to the semantics of such sentences, but equally to their syntax. He shows how insights from linguistic theory help to illuminate problems about the meaning and function of conditionals. For instance, philosophers and logicians have had problems analysing the locutions 'only if',
'unless', and 'even if'. Lycan sets out a general semantic theory of conditionals which works for all such sentences; he assigns meanings to them in a way that explains how and why those meanings depend upon features of utterance context. According to Lycan's theory the 'if'-clauses refer to items
called 'events', 'circumstances', or 'conditions'. Real Conditionals gives at last the definitive presentation of this original approach to a topic at the intersection of philosophy, logic, and linguistics. Lycan's characteristically lively and witty expository style ensures that it can be enjoyed by readers from all three disciplines.

Review Quote

There's alot to like about this book, not least its witty, even charming, style. Lycan considers more examples, from more diverse sources, than most writers. The theory he presents is innovative and at least aims to be comprehensive. And of course there are some good arguments for it.

Feature

well-known author
the culmination of thirty years work in this area
the discussion brings together the fields of philosophy, logic and language
non-technical language used
fun to read
draws on and contributes to linguistic theory - will be of interest to linguists

Details