Instructors: David Boylan and Matt Mandelkern
Dates: August 8-12


Course abstract: Recent research has converged on the idea that the semantics for conditionals is locally information-sensitive: roughly, the interpretation of a conditional depends, not just on its global context, but also on its local context. We will explore the theory of conditionals through this lens. We will thus introduce long-standing questions involving conditionals, as well as some cutting-edge literature in this area. We will first consider how local information-sensitivity can illuminate the distinction between indicatives and subjunctives. We then will consider the logic of conditionals. Finally, we will consider the probability of conditionals. These topics have generally been explored in isolation from each other; we hope that, by bringing them together under the umbrella of local information-sensitivity, we will draw out interdependencies between these three issues and show how they can shed light on each other.

Tentative schedule:

Class 1: Foundations
– Closeness analysis of conditionals
– Indicative vs. subjunctive
Reading: Stalnaker 1968
Handout

Class 2: Indicative vs. subjunctive and locality
– Local compatibility
– Local or-to-if
Readings: Stalnaker 1975; Boylan and Schultheis 2021; Mandelkern 2022, Chapter 3
Handout

Class 3: Logic
– Modus Ponens, Import-Export, and Identity
Readings: McGee 1985; Mandelkern 2021; Mandelkern 2022, Chapter 6
Handout

Classes 4-5: Probability
– Stalnaker's Thesis and triviality results
– Counterexamples to the Thesis
– Information-sensitivity and probability
Readings: Khoo and Santorio 2018; Goldstein and Santorio 2021
Handout 1
Handout 2