Abstract

LOPEZ-ASTORGA, Miguel. The Definition of Modulation and its Reduction Sentences. Rev. filos.open insight [online]. 2022, vol.13, n.27, pp.106-118.  Epub June 20, 2022. ISSN 2395-8936.  https://doi.org/10.23924/oi.v12i27.506.

Modulation is an essential concept in the theory of mental models. According to this theory, sentences in natural language are linked to possibilities. However, the meaning of expressions and the situations in which they are used can cause changes in those possibilities. The theory calls ‘modulation’ to that phenomenon. Some of its defenders (Johnson-Laird, Khemlani, and Goodwin) even gave an explicit definition of it. Thus, the main aim of this paper is to address that definition in order to check if it follows or not the criteria proposed by Carnap for definitions and reduction sentences. The conclusion is that, although the definition of modulation in the theory of mental models is very abstract, it seems to fulfill those criteria.

Keywords : Definition; mental model; modulation; possibility; reduction sentence.

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