Modal interpretation of tense in subjunctive conditionals

The topic of this paper is a problem concerning the interpretation of tense in conditionals: Fake Tense. Fake Tense refers to the observation that in English subjunctive conditionals the Simple Past, and sometimes also the Past Perfect, appear not to be interpreted as semantic past tense or past perfect. We will focus in particular on the function of the perfect in conditionals with fake past perfect. Two different lines of approach to fake tense can be distinguished in the literature: past-as-modal approaches (PaM) claim that the past tense markers receive in these contexts a modal interpretation; past-as-past approaches (PaP) propose that the past still receives a temporal interpretation, though it contributes in an unexpected way to the meaning of the sentences. We will first spell out a PaM approach based on a idea in Schulz (2014) and then argue that this approach is not convincing. This will be partly done based on two empirical studies concerning the form of generic counterfactuals/counterpossibles. We will then propose a PaP approach to fake perfect. This approach will build on an interventionist account of counterfactuals using causal structural models (Pearl 2000, 2013).

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The Essence of Eschatology: A Modal Interpretation

Ultimate Reality and Meaning ◽

10.3138/uram.19.3.206 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 19 (3) ◽

pp. 206-239 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

John Davenport

Keyword(s):

Modal Interpretation

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Omissions, Agency, and Control

10.1093/oso/9780190683450.003.0005 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Michael J. Zimmerman

Keyword(s):

Subjunctive Conditionals ◽

Control Section ◽

And Control

This chapter focuses on two questions: How is omission related to action? Are our omissions within our control? Section 5.1 examines the question whether the control that we have over our actions and their consequences may be understood partly in terms of subjunctive conditionals. Section 5.2 examines the question whether the control that we have over our omissions and their consequences may be understood in the same way as the control that we have over our actions and their consequences is to be understood. Section 5.3 discusses the moral and legal significance of the conclusions reached in the preceding sections.

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Middle Knowledge and the Soteriological Problem of Evil

Religious Studies ◽

10.1017/s0034412500001281 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 27 (1) ◽

pp. 3-26 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

David P. Hunt

Keyword(s):

Sixteenth Century ◽

Problem Of Evil ◽

The Other ◽

Alvin Plantinga ◽

Subjunctive Conditionals ◽

Middle Knowledge ◽

Divine Knowledge ◽

Considerable Controversy

According to the thesis of divine ‘middle knowledge’, first propounded by the Jesuit theologian Luis de Molina in the sixteenth century, subjunctive conditionals stating how free agents would freely respond under counter-factual conditions (call such expressions ‘counterfactuals of freedom’) may be straightforwardly true, and thus serve as the objects of divine knowledge. This thesis has provoked considerable controversy, and the recent revival of interest in middle knowledge, initiated by Anthony Kenny, Robert Adams and Alvin Plantinga in the 1970s, has led to two ongoing debates. One is a theoretical debate over the very intelligibility of middle knowledge;1 the other is a practical debate over its philosophical and theological utility.2

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Quantum Mechanics: Modal Interpretation and Galilean Transformations

Foundations of Physics ◽

10.1007/s10701-009-9313-x ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 39 (9) ◽

pp. 1023-1045 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Juan Sebastian Ardenghi ◽

Mario Castagnino ◽

Olimpia Lombardi

Keyword(s):

Quantum Mechanics ◽

Modal Interpretation

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Aspect as an indicator of a clausal size in Involuntary State Constructions in BCS

Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America ◽

10.3765/plsa.v6i1.4945 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 82

Author(s):

Anna Melnikova

Keyword(s):

Syntactic Complexity ◽

Modal Interpretation ◽

Ongoing Debate ◽

Main Claim ◽

State Construction ◽

Matrix Verb

Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (BCS) has a productive ‘involuntary state construction (ISC) with a modal interpretation. There is an ongoing debate concerning the syntactic complexity of this construction. According to one account – the “mono-clausal analysis”, ISCs have only one (overt) lexical verb, and the modal interpretation stems from the imperfective operator (Rivero and Milojević-Sheppard 2003,Rivero 2009, Tsedryk 2016). There is also a “bi-clausal account” which argues in favor of a covert matrix verb of involuntary disposition feel-like, which takes a clausal ModP complement, giving the modal interpretation (Marušič & Žaucer 2005 [henceforth M&Ž]). In this paper, I provide additional evidence in favor of the bi-clausal approach and in so doing, account for a previously unresolved aspectual restriction on the construction, namely that it is ungrammatical with a perfective lexical verb. The main claim is that the unavailability of perfective in the ISC is due to selectional properties of covert feel-like, which results in the violation of requirements on perfective.

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