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Gil Sagi

University of Haifa, Department of Philosophy, Faculty Member

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, MCMP, Faculty Member

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Philosophy, Alumna

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Personal website: http://gilisagi.wix.com/gil-sagi
Supervisors: Oron Shagrir and Stewart Shapiro

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Guillermo Del Pinal

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Simon Vonlanthen

University of California, San Diego

Utrecht University

Juliette Kennedy

University of Helsinki

Nikolaj Jang Lee Linding Pedersen

Yonsei University

Alexander Paseau

University of Oxford

University of Leeds

Wuhan University

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

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Papers by Gil Sagi

Logicality in natural language

Philosophical Studies, 2024

Is there a relation of logical consequence in natural language? Logicality, in the philosophical ... more Is there a relation of logical consequence in natural language? Logicality, in the philosophical literature, has been conceived of as a restrictive phenomenon that is at odds with the unbridled richness and complexity of natural language. This article claims that there is a relation of logical consequence in natural language, and moreover, that it is the subject matter of the bulk of current theories of formal semantics. I employ the framework of semantic constraints (Sagi in Log Anal 57(227):259-276, 2014), which generalizes the Tarskian definition of logical consequence. I apply the widely accepted criterion of invariance under isomorphisms (Sher in J. Symb Log 61(2):653-686, 1996) generalized to the framework of semantic constraints (Sagi in Bull Symb Log 28(1):104-132, 2022b), combined with a theory of Glanzberg (in Metasemantics: new essays on the foundations of meaning, 2014) to delineate the relation of logical consequence in natural language.

One True Logic, by Owen Griffiths and A.C. Paseau (Book Review)

Mind, 2023

Extensionality and logicality

Synthese, May 29, 2017

Tarski characterized logical notions as invariant under permutations of the domain. The outcome, ... more Tarski characterized logical notions as invariant under permutations of the domain. The outcome, according to Tarski, is that our logic, which is commonly said to be a logic of extension rather than intension, is not even a logic of extension-it is a logic of cardinality (or, more accurately, of "isomorphism type"). In this paper, I make this idea precise. We look at a scale inspired by Ruth Barcan Marcus of various levels of meaning: extensions, intensions and hyperintensions. On this scale, the lower the level of meaning, the more coarse-grained and less "intensional" it is. I propose to extend this scale to accommodate a level of meaning appropriate for logic. Thus, below the level of extension, we will have a more coarse-grained level of form. I employ a semantic conception of form, adopted from Sher, where forms are features of things "in the world". Each expression in the language embodies a form, and by the definition we give, forms will be invariant under permutations and thus Tarskian logical notions. I then define the logical terms of a language as those terms whose extension can be determined by their form. Logicality will be shown to be a lower level analogue of rigidity. Using Barcan Marcus's principles of explicit and implicit extensionality, we are able to characterize purely logical languages as "sub-extensional", namely, as concerned only with form, and we thus obtain a wider perspective on both logicality and extensionality.

The Semantic Conception of Logic : Essays on Consequence, Invariance, and Meaning

Contextualism, Relativism and the Liar

Erkenntnis, Nov 2, 2016

Contextualist theories of truth appeal to context to solve the liar paradox: different stages of ... more Contextualist theories of truth appeal to context to solve the liar paradox: different stages of reasoning occur in different contexts, and so the contradiction is dispelled. The word 'true' is relativized by the contextualists to contexts of use. This paper shows that contextualist approaches to the liar are committed to a form of semantic relativism: that the truth value of some sentences depends on the context of assessment, as well as the context of use. In particular, it is shown how Simmons's and Glanzberg's contextualist approaches entail relativism. In both cases, the liar sentence gets different semantic evaluations as uttered in a fixed context of use but assessed from different contexts. Shift in context of use alone cannot provide the full explanation of the liar. These contextualist approaches, as originally presented, were thus mischaracterised and they should be re-evaluated according to their full implications.

Considerations on Logical Consequence and Natural Language

Dialectica

In a recent article, “Logical Consequence and Natural Language,” Michael Glanzberg claims that th... more In a recent article, “Logical Consequence and Natural Language,” Michael Glanzberg claims that there is no relation of logical consequence in natural language (2015). The present paper counters that claim. I shall discuss Glanzberg’s arguments and show why they don’t hold. I further show how Glanzberg’s claims may be used to rather support the existence of logical consequence in natural language.

Logic and Natural Language: Commitments and Constraints

In his new book, Logical Form, Andrea Iacona distinguishes between two different roles that have ... more In his new book, Logical Form, Andrea Iacona distinguishes between two different roles that have been ascribed to the notion of logical form: the logical role and the semantic role. These two roles entail a bifurcation of the notion of logical form. Both notions of logical form, according to Iacona, are descriptive, having to do with different features of natural language sentences. I agree that the notion of logical form bifurcates, but not that the logical role is merely descriptive. In this paper, I focus on formalization, a process by which logical form, on its logical role, is attributed to natural language sentences. According to some, formalization is a form of explication, and it involves normative, pragmatic, as well as creative aspects. I present a view by which formalization involves explicit commitments on behalf of a reasoner or an interpreter, which serve the normative grounds for the evaluation of a given text. In previous work, I proposed the framework of semantic co...

Invariance Criteria as Meta-Constraints

The Bulletin of Symbolic Logic, 2021

Invariance criteria are widely accepted as a means to demarcate the logical vocabulary of a langu... more Invariance criteria are widely accepted as a means to demarcate the logical vocabulary of a language. In previous work, I proposed a framework of “semantic constraints” for model-theoretic consequence which does not rely on a strict distinction between logical and nonlogical terms, but rather on a range of constraints on models restricting the interpretations of terms in the language in different ways. In this paper I show how invariance criteria can be generalized so as to apply to semantic constraints on models. Some obviously unpalatable semantic constraints turn out to be invariant under isomorphisms. I shall connect the discussion to known counter-examples to invariance criteria for logical terms, and so the generalization will also shed light on the current existing debate on logicality. I analyse the failure of invariance to fulfil its role as a criterion for logicality, and argue that invariance conditions should best be thought of as merely methodological meta-constraints r...

Logic in Natural Language: Commitments and Constraints

Disputatio, 2020

In his new book, Logical Form, Andrea Iacona distinguishes between two different roles that have ... more In his new book, Logical Form, Andrea Iacona distinguishes between two different roles that have been ascribed to the notion of logical form: the logical role and the semantic role. These two roles entail a bifurcation of the notion of logical form. Both notions of logical form, according to Iacona, are descriptive, having to do with different features of natural language sentences. I agree that the notion of logical form bifurcates, but not that the logical role is merely descriptive. In this paper, I focus on formalization, a process by which logical form, on its logical role, is attributed to natural language sentences. According to some, formalization is a form of explication, and it involves normative, pragmatic, as well as creative aspects. I present a view by which formalization involves explicit commitments on behalf of a reasoner or an interpreter, which serve the normative grounds for the evaluation of a given text. In previous work, I proposed the framework of semantic co...

Logicality and Meaning

The Review of Symbolic Logic, 2018

In standard model-theoretic semantics, the meaning of logical terms is said to be fixed in the sy... more In standard model-theoretic semantics, the meaning of logical terms is said to be fixed in the system while that of nonlogical terms remains variable. Much effort has been devoted to characterizing logical terms, those terms that should be fixed, but little has been said on their role in logical systems: on what fixing their meaning precisely amounts to. My proposal is that when a term is considered logical in model theory, what gets fixed is its intension rather than its extension. I provide a rigorous way of spelling out this idea, and show that it leads to a graded account of logicality: the less structure a term requires in order for its intension to be fixed, the more logical it is. Finally, I focus on the class of terms that are invariant under isomorphisms, as they render themselves more easily to mathematical treatment. I propose a mathematical measure for the logicality of such terms based on their associated Löwenheim numbers.

Extensionality and logicality

Synthese, 2017

Tarski characterized logical notions as invariant under permutations of the domain. The outcome, ... more Tarski characterized logical notions as invariant under permutations of the domain. The outcome, according to Tarski, is that our logic, which is commonly said to be a logic of extension rather than intension, is not even a logic of extension-it is a logic of cardinality (or, more accurately, of "isomorphism type"). In this paper, I make this idea precise. We look at a scale inspired by Ruth Barcan Marcus of various levels of meaning: extensions, intensions and hyperintensions. On this scale, the lower the level of meaning, the more coarse-grained and less "intensional" it is. I propose to extend this scale to accommodate a level of meaning appropriate for logic. Thus, below the level of extension, we will have a more coarse-grained level of form. I employ a semantic conception of form, adopted from Sher, where forms are features of things "in the world". Each expression in the language embodies a form, and by the definition we give, forms will be invariant under permutations and thus Tarskian logical notions. I then define the logical terms of a language as those terms whose extension can be determined by their form. Logicality will be shown to be a lower level analogue of rigidity. Using Barcan Marcus's principles of explicit and implicit extensionality, we are able to characterize purely logical languages as "sub-extensional", namely, as concerned only with form, and we thus obtain a wider perspective on both logicality and extensionality.

Contextualism, Relativism and the Liar

Erkenntnis, 2016

Contextualist theories of truth appeal to context to solve the liar paradox: different stages of ... more Contextualist theories of truth appeal to context to solve the liar paradox: different stages of reasoning occur in different contexts, and so the contradiction is dispelled. The word 'true' is relativized by the contextualists to contexts of use. This paper shows that contextualist approaches to the liar are committed to a form of semantic relativism: that the truth value of some sentences depends on the context of assessment, as well as the context of use. In particular, it is shown how Simmons's and Glanzberg's contextualist approaches entail relativism. In both cases, the liar sentence gets different semantic evaluations as uttered in a fixed context of use but assessed from different contexts. Shift in context of use alone cannot provide the full explanation of the liar. These contextualist approaches, as originally presented, were thus mischaracterised and they should be re-evaluated according to their full implications.

The Modal and Epistemic Arguments against the Invariance Criterion for Logical Terms

Journal of Philosophy, 2015

Sher and Shapiro on Logical Terms

Formality in Logic: From Logical Terms to Semantic Constraints

Logique Et Analyse, 2014

In this paper I discuss a prevailing view by which logical terms determine forms of sentences and... more In this paper I discuss a prevailing view by which logical terms determine forms of sentences and arguments and therefore the logical validity of arguments. This view is common to those who hold that there is a principled distinction between logical and nonlogical terms and those holding relativistic accounts. I adopt the Tarskian tradition by which logical validity is determined by form, but reject the centrality of logical terms. I propose an alternative framework for logic where logical terms no longer play a distinctive role. This account employs a new notion of semantic constraints. The paper includes some preliminary definitions and results in the new framework.

The Semantic Conception of Logic: Problems and Prospects

The Semantic Conception of Logic, 2021

Invariance Criteria as Meta-Constraints

The Bulletin of Symbolic Logic, 2022

Invariance criteria are widely accepted as a means to demarcate the logical vocabulary of a langu... more Invariance criteria are widely accepted as a means to demarcate the logical vocabulary of a language. In previous work, I proposed a framework of "semantic constraints" for model-theoretic consequence which does not rely on a strict distinction between logical and nonlogical terms, but rather on a range of constraints on models restricting the interpretations of terms in the language in different ways. In this paper I show how invariance criteria can be generalized so as to apply to semantic constraints on models. Some obviously unpalatable semantic constraints turn out to be invariant under isomorphisms. I shall connect the discussion to known counterexamples to invariance criteria for logical terms, and so the generalization will also shed light on the current existing debate on logicality. I analyse the failure of invariance to fulfil its role as a criterion for logicality, and argue that invariance conditions should best be thought of as merely methodological meta-constraints restricting the ways the model-theoretic apparatus should be used.

Logic as a Methodological Discipline (penultimate)

Synthese, 2021

This essay offers a conception of logic by which logic may be considered to be exceptional among ... more This essay offers a conception of logic by which logic may be considered to be exceptional among the sciences on the backdrop of a naturalistic outlook. The conception of logic focused on emphasises the traditional role of logic as a methodology for the sciences, which distinguishes it from other sciences that are not methodological. On the proposed conception, the methodological aims of logic drive its definitions and principles, rather than the description of scientific phenomena. The notion of a methodological discipline is explained as a relation between disciplines or practices. Logic serves as a methodological discipline with respect to any theoretical practice, and this generality, as well as logic's reflexive nature, distinguish it from other methodological disciplines. Finally, the evolution of model theory is taken as a case study, with a focus on its methodological role. Following recent work by John Baldwin and Juliette Kennedy, we look at model theory from its inception in the mid-twentieth century as a foundational endeavour until developments at the end of the century, where the classification of theories has taken centre-stage.

Formalization, Semantic Constraints and Anthropocentrism (in Hebrew)

Iyyun: The Jerusalem Philosophical Quarterly, 2021

The paper presents a view of formalization as an interpretive endeavour carried out by a reasoner... more The paper presents a view of formalization as an interpretive endeavour carried out by a reasoner or an interlocutor by way of making explicit their logical and interpretive commitments. The view is likened to Mark Steiner’s approach to physics, by which the use of mathematics in theorizing about empirical phenomena makes physics anthropocentric. In the present approach, the use of formalization in a normative domain of interpretive commitments makes logic a properly humanistic discipline. The paper presents the model-theoretic framework of semantic constraints, extended to include formalization constraints, as a formal framework for articulating logical and interpretive commitments. The proposed approach to formalization is then applied to examples taken from Kripke and Boghossian.

Contributed for a special issue of Iyyun in memory of Mark Steiner.

Considerations on Logical Consequence and Natural Language

Dialectica, 2021

In a recent article, "Logical Consequence and Natural Language", Michael Glanzberg claims that th... more In a recent article, "Logical Consequence and Natural Language", Michael Glanzberg claims that there is no relation of logical consequence in natural language (Glanzberg, 2015). The present paper counters that claim. I shall discuss Glanzberg's arguments and show why they don't hold. I further show how Glanzberg's claims may be used to rather support the existence of logical consequence in natural language.

Logicality in natural language

Philosophical Studies, 2024

Is there a relation of logical consequence in natural language? Logicality, in the philosophical ... more Is there a relation of logical consequence in natural language? Logicality, in the philosophical literature, has been conceived of as a restrictive phenomenon that is at odds with the unbridled richness and complexity of natural language. This article claims that there is a relation of logical consequence in natural language, and moreover, that it is the subject matter of the bulk of current theories of formal semantics. I employ the framework of semantic constraints (Sagi in Log Anal 57(227):259-276, 2014), which generalizes the Tarskian definition of logical consequence. I apply the widely accepted criterion of invariance under isomorphisms (Sher in J. Symb Log 61(2):653-686, 1996) generalized to the framework of semantic constraints (Sagi in Bull Symb Log 28(1):104-132, 2022b), combined with a theory of Glanzberg (in Metasemantics: new essays on the foundations of meaning, 2014) to delineate the relation of logical consequence in natural language.

One True Logic, by Owen Griffiths and A.C. Paseau (Book Review)

Mind, 2023

Extensionality and logicality

Synthese, May 29, 2017

Tarski characterized logical notions as invariant under permutations of the domain. The outcome, ... more Tarski characterized logical notions as invariant under permutations of the domain. The outcome, according to Tarski, is that our logic, which is commonly said to be a logic of extension rather than intension, is not even a logic of extension-it is a logic of cardinality (or, more accurately, of "isomorphism type"). In this paper, I make this idea precise. We look at a scale inspired by Ruth Barcan Marcus of various levels of meaning: extensions, intensions and hyperintensions. On this scale, the lower the level of meaning, the more coarse-grained and less "intensional" it is. I propose to extend this scale to accommodate a level of meaning appropriate for logic. Thus, below the level of extension, we will have a more coarse-grained level of form. I employ a semantic conception of form, adopted from Sher, where forms are features of things "in the world". Each expression in the language embodies a form, and by the definition we give, forms will be invariant under permutations and thus Tarskian logical notions. I then define the logical terms of a language as those terms whose extension can be determined by their form. Logicality will be shown to be a lower level analogue of rigidity. Using Barcan Marcus's principles of explicit and implicit extensionality, we are able to characterize purely logical languages as "sub-extensional", namely, as concerned only with form, and we thus obtain a wider perspective on both logicality and extensionality.

The Semantic Conception of Logic : Essays on Consequence, Invariance, and Meaning

Contextualism, Relativism and the Liar

Erkenntnis, Nov 2, 2016

Contextualist theories of truth appeal to context to solve the liar paradox: different stages of ... more Contextualist theories of truth appeal to context to solve the liar paradox: different stages of reasoning occur in different contexts, and so the contradiction is dispelled. The word 'true' is relativized by the contextualists to contexts of use. This paper shows that contextualist approaches to the liar are committed to a form of semantic relativism: that the truth value of some sentences depends on the context of assessment, as well as the context of use. In particular, it is shown how Simmons's and Glanzberg's contextualist approaches entail relativism. In both cases, the liar sentence gets different semantic evaluations as uttered in a fixed context of use but assessed from different contexts. Shift in context of use alone cannot provide the full explanation of the liar. These contextualist approaches, as originally presented, were thus mischaracterised and they should be re-evaluated according to their full implications.

Considerations on Logical Consequence and Natural Language

Dialectica

In a recent article, “Logical Consequence and Natural Language,” Michael Glanzberg claims that th... more In a recent article, “Logical Consequence and Natural Language,” Michael Glanzberg claims that there is no relation of logical consequence in natural language (2015). The present paper counters that claim. I shall discuss Glanzberg’s arguments and show why they don’t hold. I further show how Glanzberg’s claims may be used to rather support the existence of logical consequence in natural language.

Logic and Natural Language: Commitments and Constraints

In his new book, Logical Form, Andrea Iacona distinguishes between two different roles that have ... more In his new book, Logical Form, Andrea Iacona distinguishes between two different roles that have been ascribed to the notion of logical form: the logical role and the semantic role. These two roles entail a bifurcation of the notion of logical form. Both notions of logical form, according to Iacona, are descriptive, having to do with different features of natural language sentences. I agree that the notion of logical form bifurcates, but not that the logical role is merely descriptive. In this paper, I focus on formalization, a process by which logical form, on its logical role, is attributed to natural language sentences. According to some, formalization is a form of explication, and it involves normative, pragmatic, as well as creative aspects. I present a view by which formalization involves explicit commitments on behalf of a reasoner or an interpreter, which serve the normative grounds for the evaluation of a given text. In previous work, I proposed the framework of semantic co...

Invariance Criteria as Meta-Constraints

The Bulletin of Symbolic Logic, 2021

Invariance criteria are widely accepted as a means to demarcate the logical vocabulary of a langu... more Invariance criteria are widely accepted as a means to demarcate the logical vocabulary of a language. In previous work, I proposed a framework of “semantic constraints” for model-theoretic consequence which does not rely on a strict distinction between logical and nonlogical terms, but rather on a range of constraints on models restricting the interpretations of terms in the language in different ways. In this paper I show how invariance criteria can be generalized so as to apply to semantic constraints on models. Some obviously unpalatable semantic constraints turn out to be invariant under isomorphisms. I shall connect the discussion to known counter-examples to invariance criteria for logical terms, and so the generalization will also shed light on the current existing debate on logicality. I analyse the failure of invariance to fulfil its role as a criterion for logicality, and argue that invariance conditions should best be thought of as merely methodological meta-constraints r...

Logic in Natural Language: Commitments and Constraints

Disputatio, 2020

In his new book, Logical Form, Andrea Iacona distinguishes between two different roles that have ... more In his new book, Logical Form, Andrea Iacona distinguishes between two different roles that have been ascribed to the notion of logical form: the logical role and the semantic role. These two roles entail a bifurcation of the notion of logical form. Both notions of logical form, according to Iacona, are descriptive, having to do with different features of natural language sentences. I agree that the notion of logical form bifurcates, but not that the logical role is merely descriptive. In this paper, I focus on formalization, a process by which logical form, on its logical role, is attributed to natural language sentences. According to some, formalization is a form of explication, and it involves normative, pragmatic, as well as creative aspects. I present a view by which formalization involves explicit commitments on behalf of a reasoner or an interpreter, which serve the normative grounds for the evaluation of a given text. In previous work, I proposed the framework of semantic co...

Logicality and Meaning

The Review of Symbolic Logic, 2018

In standard model-theoretic semantics, the meaning of logical terms is said to be fixed in the sy... more In standard model-theoretic semantics, the meaning of logical terms is said to be fixed in the system while that of nonlogical terms remains variable. Much effort has been devoted to characterizing logical terms, those terms that should be fixed, but little has been said on their role in logical systems: on what fixing their meaning precisely amounts to. My proposal is that when a term is considered logical in model theory, what gets fixed is its intension rather than its extension. I provide a rigorous way of spelling out this idea, and show that it leads to a graded account of logicality: the less structure a term requires in order for its intension to be fixed, the more logical it is. Finally, I focus on the class of terms that are invariant under isomorphisms, as they render themselves more easily to mathematical treatment. I propose a mathematical measure for the logicality of such terms based on their associated Löwenheim numbers.

Extensionality and logicality

Synthese, 2017

Tarski characterized logical notions as invariant under permutations of the domain. The outcome, ... more Tarski characterized logical notions as invariant under permutations of the domain. The outcome, according to Tarski, is that our logic, which is commonly said to be a logic of extension rather than intension, is not even a logic of extension-it is a logic of cardinality (or, more accurately, of "isomorphism type"). In this paper, I make this idea precise. We look at a scale inspired by Ruth Barcan Marcus of various levels of meaning: extensions, intensions and hyperintensions. On this scale, the lower the level of meaning, the more coarse-grained and less "intensional" it is. I propose to extend this scale to accommodate a level of meaning appropriate for logic. Thus, below the level of extension, we will have a more coarse-grained level of form. I employ a semantic conception of form, adopted from Sher, where forms are features of things "in the world". Each expression in the language embodies a form, and by the definition we give, forms will be invariant under permutations and thus Tarskian logical notions. I then define the logical terms of a language as those terms whose extension can be determined by their form. Logicality will be shown to be a lower level analogue of rigidity. Using Barcan Marcus's principles of explicit and implicit extensionality, we are able to characterize purely logical languages as "sub-extensional", namely, as concerned only with form, and we thus obtain a wider perspective on both logicality and extensionality.

Contextualism, Relativism and the Liar

Erkenntnis, 2016

Contextualist theories of truth appeal to context to solve the liar paradox: different stages of ... more Contextualist theories of truth appeal to context to solve the liar paradox: different stages of reasoning occur in different contexts, and so the contradiction is dispelled. The word 'true' is relativized by the contextualists to contexts of use. This paper shows that contextualist approaches to the liar are committed to a form of semantic relativism: that the truth value of some sentences depends on the context of assessment, as well as the context of use. In particular, it is shown how Simmons's and Glanzberg's contextualist approaches entail relativism. In both cases, the liar sentence gets different semantic evaluations as uttered in a fixed context of use but assessed from different contexts. Shift in context of use alone cannot provide the full explanation of the liar. These contextualist approaches, as originally presented, were thus mischaracterised and they should be re-evaluated according to their full implications.

The Modal and Epistemic Arguments against the Invariance Criterion for Logical Terms

Journal of Philosophy, 2015

Sher and Shapiro on Logical Terms

Formality in Logic: From Logical Terms to Semantic Constraints

Logique Et Analyse, 2014

In this paper I discuss a prevailing view by which logical terms determine forms of sentences and... more In this paper I discuss a prevailing view by which logical terms determine forms of sentences and arguments and therefore the logical validity of arguments. This view is common to those who hold that there is a principled distinction between logical and nonlogical terms and those holding relativistic accounts. I adopt the Tarskian tradition by which logical validity is determined by form, but reject the centrality of logical terms. I propose an alternative framework for logic where logical terms no longer play a distinctive role. This account employs a new notion of semantic constraints. The paper includes some preliminary definitions and results in the new framework.

The Semantic Conception of Logic: Problems and Prospects

The Semantic Conception of Logic, 2021

Invariance Criteria as Meta-Constraints

The Bulletin of Symbolic Logic, 2022

Invariance criteria are widely accepted as a means to demarcate the logical vocabulary of a langu... more Invariance criteria are widely accepted as a means to demarcate the logical vocabulary of a language. In previous work, I proposed a framework of "semantic constraints" for model-theoretic consequence which does not rely on a strict distinction between logical and nonlogical terms, but rather on a range of constraints on models restricting the interpretations of terms in the language in different ways. In this paper I show how invariance criteria can be generalized so as to apply to semantic constraints on models. Some obviously unpalatable semantic constraints turn out to be invariant under isomorphisms. I shall connect the discussion to known counterexamples to invariance criteria for logical terms, and so the generalization will also shed light on the current existing debate on logicality. I analyse the failure of invariance to fulfil its role as a criterion for logicality, and argue that invariance conditions should best be thought of as merely methodological meta-constraints restricting the ways the model-theoretic apparatus should be used.

Logic as a Methodological Discipline (penultimate)

Synthese, 2021

This essay offers a conception of logic by which logic may be considered to be exceptional among ... more This essay offers a conception of logic by which logic may be considered to be exceptional among the sciences on the backdrop of a naturalistic outlook. The conception of logic focused on emphasises the traditional role of logic as a methodology for the sciences, which distinguishes it from other sciences that are not methodological. On the proposed conception, the methodological aims of logic drive its definitions and principles, rather than the description of scientific phenomena. The notion of a methodological discipline is explained as a relation between disciplines or practices. Logic serves as a methodological discipline with respect to any theoretical practice, and this generality, as well as logic's reflexive nature, distinguish it from other methodological disciplines. Finally, the evolution of model theory is taken as a case study, with a focus on its methodological role. Following recent work by John Baldwin and Juliette Kennedy, we look at model theory from its inception in the mid-twentieth century as a foundational endeavour until developments at the end of the century, where the classification of theories has taken centre-stage.

Formalization, Semantic Constraints and Anthropocentrism (in Hebrew)

Iyyun: The Jerusalem Philosophical Quarterly, 2021

The paper presents a view of formalization as an interpretive endeavour carried out by a reasoner... more The paper presents a view of formalization as an interpretive endeavour carried out by a reasoner or an interlocutor by way of making explicit their logical and interpretive commitments. The view is likened to Mark Steiner’s approach to physics, by which the use of mathematics in theorizing about empirical phenomena makes physics anthropocentric. In the present approach, the use of formalization in a normative domain of interpretive commitments makes logic a properly humanistic discipline. The paper presents the model-theoretic framework of semantic constraints, extended to include formalization constraints, as a formal framework for articulating logical and interpretive commitments. The proposed approach to formalization is then applied to examples taken from Kripke and Boghossian.

Contributed for a special issue of Iyyun in memory of Mark Steiner.

Considerations on Logical Consequence and Natural Language

Dialectica, 2021

In a recent article, "Logical Consequence and Natural Language", Michael Glanzberg claims that th... more In a recent article, "Logical Consequence and Natural Language", Michael Glanzberg claims that there is no relation of logical consequence in natural language (Glanzberg, 2015). The present paper counters that claim. I shall discuss Glanzberg's arguments and show why they don't hold. I further show how Glanzberg's claims may be used to rather support the existence of logical consequence in natural language.