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Re: [engelang] intensions & extensions (Xorban)



On Thu, Sep 13, 2012 at 3:31 PM, And Rosta <and.rosta@hidden.email> wrote:
 

Some preliminary not-deeply-thought-out suggestions:

1. Let s- & r- be extensional, in the sense that in s/ra Ra Pa, Ra and Pa are in the same world.

Yes, that's where I lean.
 

2. I can't make up my mind about l-; I've been vacillating back and forth between having it be like s- and r- and having it unspecified for extensionality. Again, in the sense that la Ra Pa, Ra and Pa are in the same world. I think I'm inclining towards the unspecified option.

I think that unspecified for extensionality would effectively be the same as intensional.  Either way "l-" in "se li mlti pxreki vska'ake" wouldn't entail whether the pictured cat is imaginary or real; in fact unless we knew who created the picture and why, we couldn't be sure.
 

3. Split f- into intensional (world-shifting) and nonintensional versions, say f- and h-. It can be a bit verbose, tho: "la fa la sma pvjrna pxro'ekaka'a" as opposed to the ambiguous (or extensional) "la pvjrna pxro'ekaka'a".

If "l-" were intensional then I think the f- and h- distinction would be unnecessary.  I think we need a predicate or operator that somehow means "imaginary/possible but nonexistent in the world of the containing formula" which I think is what you're after, but I am unsure how to derive that.