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A modifier-based philosophy of whole number

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dc.contributor.authorMartin, James V.en
dc.contributor.committeechairEpstein, Brianen
dc.contributor.committeememberOtt, Walter R.en
dc.contributor.committeememberKlagge, James C.en
dc.contributor.departmentPhilosophyen
dc.date.accessioned2014-03-14T21:36:37Zen
dc.date.adate2007-06-05en
dc.date.available2014-03-14T21:36:37Zen
dc.date.issued2007-05-10en
dc.date.rdate2007-06-05en
dc.date.sdate2007-05-25en
dc.description.abstractThis 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.degreeMaster of Artsen
dc.identifier.otheretd-05252007-094340en
dc.identifier.sourceurlhttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-05252007-094340/en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/42796en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.relation.haspartJMartin.pdfen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectCompositionalityen
dc.subjectAdverbial Modifiersen
dc.subjectArithmeticen
dc.subjectNumberen
dc.titleA modifier-based philosophy of whole numberen
dc.typeThesisen
thesis.degree.disciplinePhilosophyen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.levelmastersen
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Artsen

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