Situation semantics

Abstract

Real-life situations are at the heart of an innovative theory of information aimed at some long-standing problems of philosophy. This (situation) theory was proposed more than 2 decades ago and has matured over the years. It addressed a number of semantic problems, resulting in what is commonly known as situation semantics. Activities pertaining to language are all situated: They occur in situations and they are about situations. When uttered at different times by different speakers, a statement can convey different information. Situation semantics strives toward the construction of a mathematically rigorous account of this and other related linguistic phenomena.