Combinations of Tense and Modality for Predicate Logic

In recent years combinations of tense and modality have moved into the focus of logical research. From a philosophical point of view, logical systems combining tense and modality are of interest because these logics have a wide field of application in original philosophical issues, for example in the theory of causation, of action, etc. But until now only methods yielding completeness results for propositional languages have been developed. In view of philosophical applications, analogous results with respect to languages of predicate logic are desirable, and in this paper I present two such results. The main developments in this area can be split into two directions, differing in the question whether the ordering of time is world-independent or not. Semantically, this difference appears in the discussion whether T×W-frames or Kamp-frames (resp. Ockham-frames) provide a suitable semantics for combinations of tense and modality. Here, two calculi are presented, the first adequate with respect to Kamp-semantics, the second to T×W-semantics. (Both calculi contain an appropriate version of Gabbay's irreflexivity rule.) Furthermore, the proposed constructions of canonical frames simplify some of those which have hitherto been discussed.     

Comparing examinees to a control

When comparing examinees to a control, the examiner usually does not know the probability of correctly classifying the examinees based on the number of items used and the number of examinees tested. Using ranking and selection techniques, a general framework is described for deriving a lower bound on this probability. We illustrate how these techniques can be applied to the binomial error model. New exact results are given for normal populations having unknown and unequal variances.The work upon which this publication is based was performed pursuant to a grant [Grant No. NIE-G-76-0083] with the National Institute of Education, Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Points of view or opinions stated do not necessarily represent official NIE position or policy.     

IAN BARBOUR ON RELIGION AND THE METHODS OF SCIENCE: AN ASSESSMENT

Abstract. Two aspects of Ian Barbour's position on the relation between religion and science are considered. First is his preference for comparing religions as a whole to scientific paradigms. It is suggested that the concept of a tradition as defined by Alasdair MacIntyre is more useful than Thomas Kuhn's paradigm. Thus, the Christian tradition could be compared to the Aristotelian or Newtonian scientific traditions. Within traditions, both religious and scientific, we find schools with enough agreement on fundamentals to be designated research programs, as defined by Imre Lakatos; here fruitful comparisons between theology and science are possible. Barbour's critical realism is intended as a compromise between highly rationalistic and sociological accounts of science. However, rationalism and sociology of science are answers to two different sets of questions rather than extremes on a spectrum of answers to the same question. Thus, there is no middle position between them, and no compromise need be found.     

Constructive Logic with Strong Negation is a Substructural Logic. I

The goal of this two-part series of papers is to show that constructive logic with strong negation N is definitionally equivalent to a certain axiomatic extension NFL _ew of the substructural logic FL _ew . In this paper, it is shown that the equivalent variety semantics of N (namely, the variety of Nelson algebras) and the equivalent variety semantics of NFL _ew (namely, a certain variety of FL _ew -algebras) are term equivalent. This answers a longstanding question of Nelson [30]. Extensive use is made of the automated theorem-prover Prover9 in order to establish the result. The main result of this paper is exploited in Part II of this series [40] to show that the deductive systems N and NFL _ew are definitionally equivalent, and hence that constructive logic with strong negation is a substructural logic over FL _ew . Presented by Heinrich Wansing     

Undecidability without Arithmetization

In the present paper the well-known Gödels – Churchs argument concerning the undecidability of logic (of the first order functional calculus) is exhibited in a way which seems to be philosophically interestingfi The natural numbers are not used. (Neither Chinese Theorem nor other specifically mathematical tricks are applied.) Only elementary logic and very simple set-theoretical constructions are put into the proof. Instead of the arithmetization I use the theory of concatenation (formalized by Alfred Tarski). This theory proves to be an appropriate tool. The decidability is defined directly as the property of graphical discernibility of formulas.     

社会判断中的样例激活效应

初步考察了社会判断过程中样例激活效应存在的条件、作用、强度和指向。被试为西北师范大学教育科学学院心理系2年级学生160人。实验结果表明：（1）样例激活效应在强启动和弱启动条件下都存在,而且表现为同化效应。（2）在强启动条件下,样例激活效应表现强烈。进一步讲,正、反样例对高、低效价的靶子都有同化效应,但正面样例对低效价靶子的效应更强;而反面样例对高效价靶子的效应更强。（3）在弱启动条件下,样例效价和靶子效价共同影响着社会判断及其决策过程,样例激活效应明显弱化,具体表现为：①样例激活仅对低效价靶子的判断影响显著,对高效价靶子影响不显著;②从具体样例对高、低效价靶子效应强度的比较看,正面样例对低效价靶子作用更强,反面样例只表现出略微差异。另外,“关联效应”会冲淡样例激活效应     

记叙文时间转换机制

采用实时窗口阅读技术和再认探测技术,探讨了间断性时间短语与场景跨度的关系对时间转换的影响,对Zwaan提出的强印象假设与Anderson提出的场景模型进行检验。实验1探讨在与Zwaan实验材料相似长度的场景中人们是否会忽略对较短的非连续性时间标记的处理;实验2探讨在时间跨度较大的场景中,与Zwaan实验材料相似长度的间断性时间标记是否会引起时间的转换。结果表明时间信息的间断性只是产生时间转换的必要条件之一,而不是充分条件;读者在处理间断性的时间短语进行时间转换时还会参照时间短语的跨度与场景跨度的比例。     

Strong Completeness Theorems for Weak Logics of Common Belief

We show that several logics of common belief and common knowledge are not only complete, but also strongly complete, hence compact. These logics involve a weakened monotonicity axiom, and no other restriction on individual belief. The semantics is of the ordinary fixed-point type.