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Newsletter October 17, No. 50
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Subject: Newsletter October 17, No. 50
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From: csli@csli.stanford.edu
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Date: Wed 16 Oct 1985 17:12:46-PDT
C S L I N E W S L E T T E R
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October 17, 1985 Stanford Vol. 2, No. 50
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A weekly publication of The Center for the Study of Language and
Information, Ventura Hall, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
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CSLI ACTIVITIES FOR *THIS* THURSDAY, October 17, 1985
12 noon TINLunch
Ventura Hall ``Economy of Speech Gestures''
Conference Room by Bjorn Lindblom (who will be present)
Discussion led by Bill Poser
2:15 p.m. CSLI Seminar
Redwood Hall ``On the Notion of `Logophoricity' ''
Room G-19 Peter Sells, CSLI
3:30 p.m. Tea
Ventura Hall
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CSLI ACTIVITIES FOR *NEXT* THURSDAY, October 24, 1985
12 noon TINLunch
Ventura Hall ``A Problem for Actualism About Possible Worlds''
Conference Room by Alan McMichael
Discussion led by Edward Zalta
(Abstract on page 1)
2:15 p.m. CSLI Seminar
Redwood Hall Discourse, Intention, and Action
Room G-19 Two talks given by Phil Cohen and Amichai Kronfeld
(Abstract on page 2)
3:30 p.m. Tea
Ventura Hall
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ABSTRACT OF NEXT WEEK'S TINLUNCH
``A Problem for Actualism About Possible Worlds''
In this paper, McMichael discusses a problem for the treatment of
modality in ``actualist'' semantic theories, i.e., theories which
eschew possible objects (situation semantics seems headed in this
direction). McMichael focuses on examples of iterated, or embedded,
modalities and argues that their natural interpretation is
incompatible with actualism. The objection is formalized in an
appendix by showing how the ordinary representation of the data is
inconsistent with four principles accepted by actualists. He also
shows that an actualist solution employing properties is not of much
help. --Edward Zalta
Page 2 CSLI Newsletter October 17, 1985
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NEXT WEEK'S CSLI SEMINAR
As this is a presentation of the Discourse, Intention, and Action
GROUP, there will be two short talks:
First,
Speech Acts and Rationality
Phil Cohen
This brief talk will present an overview of a theory of
communication that is grounded in a theory of rational interaction. I
will sketch a logic, jointly developed with Hector Levesque, that
characterizes how an agent's beliefs, goals, commitments, and action
are interrelated. Communicative acts are modelled along the lines of
Grice's account of non-natural meaning. I will show how definitions
of illocutionary acts, specifically the speech act of requesting, can
be derived (rather than stipulated).
Second,
The Referential/Attributive Distinction
Ami Kronfeld
I will present an analysis of Donnellan's distinction between
referential and attributive uses of definite description. My main
point will be that the intuitive appeal of Donnellan's distinction
actually masks three independent aspects of uses of definite
descriptions: one has to do with our beliefs, another has to do with
intentions, and the third has to do with the analysis of the speech
act of referring itself.
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ENVIRONMENTS GROUP MEETING
October 21, 1985, Ventura Trailer Classroom
Terry Winograd will speak on his group's research toward developing
a Language Development Environment which provides facilities for
defining languages and for creating and manipulating objects (e.g.,
programs, specifications, etc.) in a language that is under active
development and change.
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PIXELS AND PREDICATES
``Presentation Based User Interfaces''
Eugene C. Ciccarelli, Intellicorp
Wednesday, October 23, 1:00 p.m., Ventura Seminar Room
This research has the goal of making it easier to build good user
interfaces. A prototype ``presentation system base'' is described.
It offers mechanisms, tools, and ready-made parts for building user
interfaces. A general user interface model underlies the base,
organized around the concept of a ``presentation'': a visible text or
graphic form conveying information. The base and model emphasize
domain independence and style independence, to apply to the widest
possible range of interfaces. To demonstrate the base's utility,
three interfaces to an operating system were constructed, embodying
different styles: icon, menu, and graphical annotation.
Page 3 CSLI Newsletter October 17, 1985
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INTERACTIONS OF MORPHOLOGY, SYNTAX, AND DISCOURSE
The working group on Morphology/Syntax/Discourse Interactions will
be giving a series of open presentations of the results of its summer
research project, which have been abstracted in the CSLI Newsletter.
On Thursday, October 24, at 10:00 a.m. in the Ventura Conference
Room. Joan Bresnan will present Bresnan and Mchombo's ``Subject,
Topic, and Agreement in Chichewa.'' A written version of this work
will be available on Monday, October 21, at the Ventura Receptionist's
Desk.
Peter Sells' TINLunch, ``On the Notion of `Logophoricity','' on
October 17 is also part of the Morphology/Syntax/Discourse
Interactions series of presentations. A written version of the paper
will be available upon request from the author by Monday, October 21.
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LOGIC SEMINAR
``Branching Generalized Quantifiers''
Dag Westerstahl, CSLI
Friday, October 25, Noon to 1:15
Room 383N (Faculty lounge, 3rd floor, Math. Bldg.)
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SUMMARY OF ENVIRONMENTS GROUP MEETING
October 14, 1985
David Levy described further aspects of a theory of document
preparation. He showed how a basic theory of the production of
artifacts could be applied at a variety of levels and in recursive
ways to the document production process. Such a theory could be the
basis for a ``production engine'' that operates in a unified way to
produce objects and activities (both central aspects of writing),
which would be the underpinning for a tailorable tool for document
preparation---one that could be suited to specific needs and that
could cope with the quality requirements of real designers. An
overall theory of marking will consist of three components: this
theory of production, along with a theory of representation (in the
general sense being explored at CSLI) and a specific theory of marks
on surfaces. As an example of his current explorations he discussed
window systems and his attempts to provide a theoretical analysis of
the MacIntosh QuickDraw primitves.
Page 4 CSLI Newsletter October 17, 1985
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CSLI SEMINAR SUMMARY
Notes from the STASS Underground
October 3, 1985
David Israel gave an overview of the motivation behind the
formation of the Group on Situation Theory and Situation Semantics
(STASS). The aim of the group is the development of Situation Theory
as a framework within which to express, analyse, and compare
treatments of a wide range of problems and phenomena. Among the
``applications areas'' are the semantics of natural languages, the
semantics of programming and other computer languages, the nature of
informational content, the nature of computational processes, problems
in the theory of representation, problems about the nature of truth,
etc. The method of development is essentially a close and continuous
interaction between those working on Situation Theory itself and those
looking to use the theory within their own areas of interest. This
interaction is enhanced because everybody in the group is doing both
things, often simultaneously---though not, of course, equally.
In the respect of being a background theory within which to develop
theories of more delimited domains, Situation Theory is analogous to
Set Theory. Thus, for instance, Montague's treatment of phenomena in
the semantics of natural language was carried out within set theory.
So, too, was the treatment by Barwise and Perry in ``Situations and
Attitudes.'' The crucial transition between the account in that book
and the present approach is precisely the abandonment of the strategy
(or was it anyway only a tactic?) of modelling all but a small number
of basic kinds of things in set theory. Thus, for instance, in
``Situations and Attitudes'' there was no real attempt to explicate
the nature of propositions---though much of the interest of the book
was said to lie in its treatment of the propositional attitudes. The
reason for this uncomfortable state of affairs was that there was no
good way of modelling propositions set theoretically. The aim now is a
direct, non-reductionist treatment of the various kinds of entities
only modelled in the book---thus, of states of affairs and facts,
conditions, situations, propositions, etc. This is thought to have a
number of happy side effects. One is that it makes it much easier to
expose the various modes of modelling to analysis---easier simply
because one has not committed oneself to modelling as one's major
theoretical technique. The second stems from the fact that Situation
Theory is not only analogous to Set Theory in a certain respect;
Situation Theory is intended both to encompass and to be modellable by
Set Theory. Thus, the demand that Set Theory be capable of providing
models of Situation Theory imposes constraints on our conception of
sets. A crucial example of such a constraint is that there be non
wellfounded sets. --David Israel
Page 5 CSLI Newsletter October 17, 1985
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CSLI PROJECTS
The following is a list of CSLI projects and their coordinators.
AFT lexical representation Theory. Julius Moravcsik
(AFT stands for Aitiuational Frame Theory)
Computational Models of Spoken Language. Meg Withgott
Discourse, Intention, and Action. Phil Cohen.
Embedded Computation Group. Brian Smith (3 sub groups)
sub 1: Research on Situated Automata. Stan Rosenschein
sub 2: Semantically Rational
Computer Languages. Curtis Abbott
sub 3: Representation and Reasoning. Brian Smith
Finite State Morphology. Lauri Karttunen
Foundations of Document Preparation. David Levy.
Foundations of Grammar. Lauri Karttunen
Grammatical Theory and Discourse
Structures. Joan Bresnan
Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar. Ivan Sag and Thomas Wasow
Lexical Project. Annie Zaenen
Linguistic Approaches to Computer
Languages. Hans Uszkoreit
Phonology and Phonetics. Paul Kiparsky
Rational Agency. Michael Bratman
Semantics of Computer Language. Terry Winograd
Situation Theory and Situation
Semantics (STASS). David Israel
Visual Communication. Sandy Pentland
In addition, there are some interproject working groups. These
include:
Situated Engine Company. Jon Barwise and Brian Smith
Representation and Modelling. Brian Smith and Terry Winograd
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