The research focus of this unit is the study, through the application of formal tools, of information transfer and communication through meaningful language use, as well as of key philosophical problems. The unit brings together researchers who are a leading force within formal semantics and pragmatics and within philosophical logic.

Researchers in this unit investigate linguistic phenomena such as epistemic modals, conditionals, indexicals, quantifiers, free choice, rejection and questions as well as philosophical concepts such as vagueness, truth, consequence and conceivability.

A distinctive feature of the unit is the plurality of methods used to pursue the research objectives. Members of the unit draw on a variety of logical tools (different logics such as modal, many-valued, non-monotonic, supervaluationist, dynamic and inquisitive logics, using both model-theoretic and proof-theoretic approaches) and other formal tools (causal inference, game theory, computer simulations and other computational tools), and combine these tools with philosophical reflection and linguistic analysis.

Homepage: http://projects.illc.uva.nl/FSPL/