Communication and computation : new questions about compositionality
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- The topic of this dissertation is the famous principle of compositionality, stating that the meanings of complex expressions are determined by the meanings of their parts and how the parts are put together. The title belies its intent: rather than advanc- ing a central thesis, it instead asks and provides answers to new questions about compositionality. In particular, these questions arise by shifting from viewing com- positionality as a property of symbolic systems -- where what I call 'status questions' are naturally discussed -- to viewing it from a procedural perspective, as operative in processes of production and interpretation. The questions the dissertation asks arise at successively narrower levels of scale. At the level of our species, I ask: why are natural languages compositional in the first place? At the level of small conversations: what role does compositionality play in the broader theory of communication? And at the level of an individual language speaker: what is the algorithmic interpretation of compositionality and what demands on complexity does it impose? In the pursuit of answers to these questions, a wide variety of methods are employed, from simulations of signaling games, to logic and formal semantics, to theoretical computer science, as appropriately called for.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2017 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Steinert-Threlkeld, Shane |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Philosophy. |
| Primary advisor | Benthem, Johan van, 1949- |
| Thesis advisor | Benthem, Johan van, 1949- |
| Thesis advisor | Icard, Thomas |
| Thesis advisor | Potts, Christopher, 1977- |
| Thesis advisor | Skyrms, Brian |
| Advisor | Icard, Thomas |
| Advisor | Potts, Christopher, 1977- |
| Advisor | Skyrms, Brian |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Shane Steinert-Threlkeld. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Philosophy. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2017. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2017 by Shane Noah Steinert-Threlkeld
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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