The Meaning of Formal Semantics
Chris Fox · 2014
This paper considers some of the foundational issues of formal semantics.These issues include the nature of the data that is to be accounted for, the nature of the formalism used to characterise that data, and the criteria for determining whether a particular formal account is adequate.If the relevant data is merely the arguments and truth conditions that subjects agree with, then the terms in which the theory is expressed may be irrelevant.But a case can be made that it is also legitimate to be concerned with the intuitions that people have about how they reason with language, as well as technical and philosophical issues relating to the chosen formalism.The diversity of issues and objectives is highlighted by considering a selection of different problem domains, and by questioning the sometimes implicit assumptions about what counts as an appropriate formal framework.Ultimately the meaning of formal semantics depends upon assumptions about the nature of the data that is to be accounted for, and in what sense the formal theory itself needs to be sympathetic to that data.