Plural quantification logic: A critical appraisal

Hanoch Ben-Yami*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract (may include machine translation)

I first show that most authors who developed Plural Quantification Logic (PQL) argued it could capture various features of natural language better than can other logic systems. I then show that it fails to do so: it radically departs from natural language in two of its essential features; namely, in distinguishing plural from singular quantification and in its use of an 'is-one-of' relation. Next, I sketch a different approach that is more adequate than PQL for capturing plural aspects of natural language semantics and logic. I conclude with a criticism of the claim that PQL should replace natural language for specific philosophical or scientific purposes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)208-232
Number of pages25
JournalReview of Symbolic Logic
Volume2
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Mar 2009

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