Abstract
Proponents of meaning holism often invoke notions of meaning similarity and semantic spatiality in order to counter accusations that holism renders language unstable and chaotic. However, talk of such notions often falls short of being explicit and formal. In this paper I present an algebraically couched theory of inferential similarity and spatiality, motivated by measurement theory, and I apply it to the discussion of meaning holism. I argue that the proposed theory offers new and improved conceptual resources for facing the challenges raised against the thesis.
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Acknowledgments
I am grateful to Eliran Haziza for his comments and help, and also to the anonymous reviewers of the Journal of Philosophical Logic. This research was supported by the Israeli Science Foundation (Grant No. 610/2016).
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Dresner, E. Holism, Meaning Similarity and Inferential Space—a Measurement Theoretic Approach. J Philos Logic 48, 611–630 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10992-018-9487-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10992-018-9487-9