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1、JournalofPhilosophicalLogic(2008)37:277Y297#Springer2007DOI:10.1007/s10992-007-9073-zSTEFANOPREDELLIMODALMONSTERSANDTALKABOUTFICTIONReceived14September2007ABSTRACT.Thispaperarguesinfavorofatreatmentofdiscourseaboutfictionintermsofoperatorsoncharacter,thatis,Kaplanesque‘mon
2、sters’.Thefirstthreesectionscriticizethetraditionalanalysisof‘accordingtothefiction’asanintensionaloperator,andtheapproachtofictionaldiscoursegroundedonthenotionofcontextualshifts.Thefinalsectionsexplainhowananalysisintermsofmonstersyieldsthecorrectreadingsforavarietyofexa
3、mplesinvolvingmodalandtemporalindexicals.KEYWORDS:fictionalnarrative,historicalremarks,semanticanalysis1.INTRODUCTIONAccordingtoMichaelBay’sromanticepicPearlHarbor,theDoolittleraidtookoffintranquilwatersandovercastweather.Aswestrivetorecallthecourseofeventsnarratedinthemov
4、ie,Isay(1)theDoolittleraidtookoffincalmseas.Myutterance,hereinafterFict,isintuitivelytrue:inthefiction,thingsdidindeedgoasIsaid.ConsiderhowevermyutteranceFactof(1)duringadebateonmilitaryhistory.Thistime,Iseemtohavegotthingswrong:theraiddidinfacttakeoffinroughweather.Inthea
5、bsenceofconvincingargumentstotheeffectthatourintuitionsaboutFictandFactshouldnotbetakenseriously,anempiricallysuitablesemanticanalysisoftheseexamplesoughttoprovideasystematicaccountofwhythe1formeristrue,andthelatterisfalse.Thisessaydiscussestheshapesuchananalysisoughttotak
6、e.ItsmainthesisisthatthetraditionaltreatmentofcasessuchasFictisincorrect,andthatanappropriateanalysisoughttoappealtothesemanticresourcesprovidedbymodal(andtemporal)operatorsoncharacter,thatis,inthe2currentjargon,modal(andtemporal)monsters.Afterabriefintroductiontothesemant
7、icframeworkrelevantforthisessayinsection2,IpresentandcriticizetheTraditionalApproachtotheproblemofutterancesaboutfictioninsection3.Insection4Idiscussandrejectareplytomycriticism,groundedoncertainviewsabouttheinteractionbetween278STEFANOPREDELLIintensionaloperatorsandexpres
8、sionssuchas‘actually’.Section5pausesonaprimafacieplausiblebutultimatelyunsatisfactoryalte