Variable-Binders as Functors
in The Heritage of Kazimierz AjdukiewiczSearch for other papers by Achille C. Varzi in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Sofortzugang erwerben (PDF-Download und unbegrenzter Online-Zugang):
Sofortzugang erwerben (PDF-Download und unbegrenzter Online-Zugang):
In the second part of his classic paper on “Syntactic Connexion”, Ajdukiewicz argues that variable-binding operators such as quantifiers, integrals, etc. run afoul of the basic functor/argument scheme and require some form of functional abstraction. This suggestion has ever since become rather popular, particularly under the impact of Church’s Lambda Calculus. In this paper I dispute this view by showing how variable-binders can be accounted for within the framework of a pure categorial grammar, where the only structural operation for generating expressions is functional application. Some remarks are then offered to illustrate the philosophical import of the resulting picture. Particularly, a certain conception of logic is discussed that emerges from the account: the view that logic is essentially a theory in the model-theoretic sense, i.e. the result of selecting a certain class of models as the only “admissible” interpretation structures.