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Vagueness and Rationality in Language Use and Cognition

  • Book
  • © 2019

Overview

Editors:
  1. Richard Dietz

    1. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

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  • The first book-length collection of studies on the previously understudied subject of vague language use as a species of rational behaviour
  • Includes contributions by leading researchers in the field
  • Provides a synergistic focus on the subject; introducing a diversity of new approaches

Part of the book series: Language, Cognition, and Mind (LCAM, volume 5)

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-ix
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  2. Introduction

    • Richard Dietz
    Pages 1-3

  3. Vagueness in Rational Choice

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 5-5
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    2. Vagueness and Imprecise Credence

      • Anna Mahtani
      Pages 7-30

    3. Problems of Precision in Fuzzy Theories of Vagueness and Bayesian Epistemology

      • Nicholas J. J. Smith
      Pages 31-48

    4. Regret, Sub-optimality, and Vagueness

      • Chrisoula Andreou
      Pages 49-59

  4. Rationality in Vague Language Use and Cognition

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 61-61
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    2. The Elusive Benefits of Vagueness: Evidence from Experiments

      • Matthew James Green, Kees van Deemter
      Pages 63-86

    3. Towards an Ecology of Vagueness

      • José Pedro Correia, Michael Franke
      Pages 87-113

    4. The Rationality of Vagueness

      • Igor Douven
      Pages 115-134

    5. Semantic Indecision

      • Timothy W. Grinsell
      Pages 135-152

    6. Grounding a Pragmatic Theory of Vagueness on Experimental Data: Semi-orders and Weber’s Law

      • Robert van Rooij, Arnold Kochari
      Pages 153-183
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Keywords

About this book

This volume presents new conceptual and experimental studies which investigate the connection between vagueness and rationality from various systematic directions, such as philosophy, linguistics, cognitive psychology, computing science, and economics. Vagueness in language use and cognition has traditionally been interpreted in epistemic or semantic terms. The standard view of vagueness specifically suggests that considerations of agency or rationality, broadly conceived, can be left out of the equation. Most recently, new literature on vagueness has been released which suggests that the standard view is inadequate and that considerations of rationality should factor into more comprehensive models of vagueness. The methodological approaches presented here are diverse, ranging from philosophical interpretations of rational credence for vagueness to adaptations of choice theory (dynamic choice theory, revealed preference models, social choice theory), probabilistic models of pragmatic reasoning (Bayesian pragmatics), evolutionary game theory, and conceptual space models of categorisation.

Reviews

“I have no doubt that this volume will be a valuable contribution to the current literature on the topic. All chapters are refreshingly original, and they offer surprising connections between vagueness as a semantic phenomenon and other seemingly unrelated problems in game theory, Bayesian epistemology or social choice theory. As a result, the reader is able to acquire a broad understanding of the problem, as well as a sense of its pervasiveness.  The book also exhibits a delicate balance between conceptual and experimental approaches to vagueness. It is highly recommended to scholars and graduate students working on epistemology, philosophy of language, cognitive psychology, or linguistics.” (Eleonora Cresto, CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Editors and Affiliations

  • Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Richard Dietz

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