Situation-Dependent Attitude Semantics #
@cite{heim-kratzer-1998} @cite{kratzer-1998} @cite{lewis-1979} @cite{von-stechow-2009} @cite{ogihara-1989}
Attitude operators with temporal parameters: believe's complement type shifts
from st (propositions = W → Bool) to s(it) (situation-dependent propositions =
Situation W Time → Bool). The doxastic alternatives Dox_y(w,t) become world–time
pairs, not just worlds.
Motivation #
Standard attitude semantics evaluates embedded clauses relative to worlds only: ⟦x believes p⟧(w) = ∀w' ∈ Dox_x(w). p(w')
This blocks sequence-of-tense (SOT) analysis, where embedded tense receives
a shifted interpretation relative to the matrix event time. @cite{von-stechow-2009}
synthesizes @cite{lewis-1979}, @cite{heim-kratzer-1998}, and @cite{ogihara-1989}: believe's
complement type shifts to s(it), and doxastic alternatives become situation pairs.
Design #
Phase 1 (this module): Additive — new operators alongside existing ones, with lifting theorems proving generalization. Zero breaking changes.
Phase 2 (future): Migrate Doxastic.lean and Preferential.lean to use
situation-dependent types natively, with backward-compat wrappers.
Situation-dependent proposition type (von Stechow's s(it), Bool-valued for computational RSA evaluation).
Where standard propositions are W → Bool (sets of worlds),
situation-dependent propositions are Situation W Time → Bool
(sets of world–time pairs). This is the complement type for
attitude verbs that support temporal interpretation.
Note: a Prop-valued counterpart exists at
Semantics.Tense.SitProp for proof-level
temporal reasoning. The split follows the Prop'/BProp
pattern in Core/Proposition.lean.
Equations
- Semantics.Attitudes.SituationDependent.SitProp W Time = (Situation W Time → Bool)
Instances For
Situation-dependent accessibility relation: Dox_y(w,t) = {(w',t') |...}.
Generalizes AgentAccessRel W E = E → W → W → Bool to include
temporal coordinates in both the evaluation and accessible situations.
Equations
- Semantics.Attitudes.SituationDependent.SitAccessRel W Time E = (E → Situation W Time → Situation W Time → Bool)
Instances For
Situation-dependent universal modal.
⟦□p⟧(s) = ∀s' ∈ situations. R(agent, s, s') → p(s')
Generalizes Doxastic.boxAt from worlds to situations.
Equations
Instances For
Situation-dependent existential modal.
⟦◇p⟧(s) = ∃s' ∈ situations. R(agent, s, s') ∧ p(s')
Generalizes Doxastic.diaAt from worlds to situations.
Equations
- Semantics.Attitudes.SituationDependent.sitDiaAt R agent s situations p = situations.any fun (s' : Situation W Time) => R agent s s' && p s'
Instances For
Lift a world-proposition to a situation-proposition.
The lifted proposition ignores the temporal coordinate:
liftProp p s = p s.world. This is the backward-compatibility
embedding for code that hasn't moved to situation types yet.
Equations
Instances For
Lift a world-accessibility relation to a situation-accessibility relation.
The lifted relation ignores temporal coordinates in accessibility:
liftAccess R agent s₁ s₂ = R agent s₁.world s₂.world.
This gives classic Hintikka behavior where doxastic alternatives
differ only in world, not time.
Equations
- Semantics.Attitudes.SituationDependent.liftAccess R agent s₁ s₂ = R agent s₁.world s₂.world
Instances For
KEY THEOREM: Lifted operators recover classic Hintikka semantics.
sitBoxAt (liftAccess R) agent s sits (liftProp p)
is equivalent to
boxAt R agent s.world (sits.map (·.world)) p.
This means code using the old world-only operators produces identical results when embedded in the situation framework.
Veridicality check for situation-dependent propositions.
For veridical predicates (know), requires p(s) = true at the
evaluation situation. Mirrors Doxastic.veridicalityHolds.
Equations
Instances For
Lifted veridicality matches world-level veridicality.
A situation-dependent doxastic attitude predicate.
Generalizes DoxasticPredicate to use situation-dependent accessibility:
Dox_y(w,t) = {(w',t') |...} instead of Dox_y(w) = {w' |...}.
This is @cite{von-stechow-2009}'s enriched attitude semantics: ⟦x believes p⟧(w,t) = ∀(w',t') ∈ Dox_x(w,t). p(w')(t')
- name : String
Name of the predicate
- access : SitAccessRel W Time E
Situation-dependent accessibility relation
- veridicality : Doxastic.Veridicality
Veridicality (veridical or not)
Instances For
Semantics for a situation-dependent doxastic predicate.
⟦x V that p⟧(s) = veridicalityHolds(V, p, s) ∧ ∀s'. R(x,s,s') → p(s')
Generalizes DoxasticPredicate.holdsAt to situations.
Equations
- One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
Instances For
Lift a world-level DoxasticPredicate to a situation-dependent one.
The accessibility relation ignores temporal coordinates (classic Hintikka behavior), and veridicality is preserved. Use this to embed existing attitude predicates into the situation-dependent framework without changing their behavior.
Equations
- Semantics.Attitudes.SituationDependent.liftDoxastic V Time = { name := V.name, access := Semantics.Attitudes.SituationDependent.liftAccess V.access, veridicality := V.veridicality }
Instances For
The lifted predicate matches the original semantics.
(liftDoxastic V Time).holdsAt agent (liftProp p) s sits
equals V.holdsAt agent p s.world (sits.map.world).
This is the key backward-compatibility theorem: any existing
analysis using DoxasticPredicate can be replayed exactly
in the situation-dependent framework by lifting.
Veridical situation-dependent predicates entail their complement.
If x knows p at situation s, then p is true at s.
Situation-dependent K axiom: closed under known implication.
If x believes p and x believes (p → q) at situation s, then x believes q at s.
Beyond Lifting: Temporal Accessibility Constraints #
The lifting operators (liftAccess, liftProp) recover classic Hintikka
semantics exactly. But the real power of situation-dependent attitudes comes
from accessibility relations that genuinely constrain the temporal coordinate.
For example, an attitude verb might impose:
- Temporal binding: the doxastic alternative's time must match the
matrix event time:
R agent s s' → s'.time = s.time - Temporal ordering: doxastic alternatives can only concern times
at or after the attitude event:
R agent s s' → s'.time ≥ s.time
These constraints are what make sequence-of-tense work: they tie the embedded clause's temporal interpretation to the matrix event time.
See Semantics.Tense.SequenceOfTense for the formal
connection between these temporal constraints and SOT readings.
Temporal binding constraint: accessible situations share the evaluation situation's time. This gives the "simultaneous" reading in sequence of tense.
Equations
Instances For
Future-oriented constraint: accessible situations have times at or after the evaluation time. This models forward-looking attitudes like "expect" or "intend".