A modifier-based philosophy of whole number
| dc.contributor.author | Martin, James V. | en |
| dc.contributor.committeechair | Epstein, Brian | en |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Ott, Walter R. | en |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Klagge, James C. | en |
| dc.contributor.department | Philosophy | en |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2014-03-14T21:36:37Z | en |
| dc.date.adate | 2007-06-05 | en |
| dc.date.available | 2014-03-14T21:36:37Z | en |
| dc.date.issued | 2007-05-10 | en |
| dc.date.rdate | 2007-06-05 | en |
| dc.date.sdate | 2007-05-25 | en |
| dc.description.abstract | This paper offers an alternative philosophy of whole number in which number-words are treated as being of the semantic-type modifier. Other accounts of number in which number-words are treated as names, syncategoremata, determiners, and predicates are considered and rejected based on their failure to provide number-words with the necessary compositional semantics. This leaves only modifiers as plausible candidates to play number-words' role in natural language. After the semantic-type modifier is chosen, a decision between number-words' being adjectival or adverbial modifiers must then be made. I argue that due to a lack of entities to be ascribed adjectival numerical properties we must settle on an adverbial treatment. After developing this treatment, I close with an attempt to explain seemingly singular-term uses of number-words in arithmetical statements like '2 + 2 = 4' in terms of these claims' stating the rules for substituting equivalent modifier-phrases in non-mathematical usages. | en |
| dc.description.degree | Master of Arts | en |
| dc.identifier.other | etd-05252007-094340 | en |
| dc.identifier.sourceurl | http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-05252007-094340/ | en |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10919/42796 | en |
| dc.language.iso | en | en |
| dc.publisher | Virginia Tech | en |
| dc.relation.haspart | JMartin.pdf | en |
| dc.rights | In Copyright | en |
| dc.rights.uri | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ | en |
| dc.subject | Compositionality | en |
| dc.subject | Adverbial Modifiers | en |
| dc.subject | Arithmetic | en |
| dc.subject | Number | en |
| dc.title | A modifier-based philosophy of whole number | en |
| dc.type | Thesis | en |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Philosophy | en |
| thesis.degree.grantor | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | en |
| thesis.degree.level | masters | en |
| thesis.degree.name | Master of Arts | en |
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