@inproceedings{lai-pustejovsky-2019-dynamic,
title = "A Dynamic Semantics for Causal Counterfactuals",
author = "Lai, Kenneth and
Pustejovsky, James",
editor = "Dobnik, Simon and
Chatzikyriakidis, Stergios and
Demberg, Vera and
Abu Kwaik, Kathrein and
Maraev, Vladislav",
booktitle = "Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Computational Semantics - Student Papers",
month = may,
year = "2019",
address = "Gothenburg, Sweden",
publisher = "Association for Computational Linguistics",
url = "https://aclanthology.org/W19-0601",
doi = "10.18653/v1/W19-0601",
pages = "1--8",
abstract = "Under the standard approach to counterfactuals, to determine the meaning of a counterfactual sentence, we consider the {``}closest{''} possible world(s) where the antecedent is true, and evaluate the consequent. Building on the standard approach, some researchers have found that the set of worlds to be considered is dependent on context; it evolves with the discourse. Others have focused on how to define the {``}distance{''} between possible worlds, using ideas from causal modeling. This paper integrates the two ideas. We present a semantics for counterfactuals that uses a distance measure based on causal laws, that can also change over time. We show how our semantics can be implemented in the Haskell programming language.",
}
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<modsCollection xmlns="http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3">
<mods ID="lai-pustejovsky-2019-dynamic">
<titleInfo>
<title>A Dynamic Semantics for Causal Counterfactuals</title>
</titleInfo>
<name type="personal">
<namePart type="given">Kenneth</namePart>
<namePart type="family">Lai</namePart>
<role>
<roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">author</roleTerm>
</role>
</name>
<name type="personal">
<namePart type="given">James</namePart>
<namePart type="family">Pustejovsky</namePart>
<role>
<roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">author</roleTerm>
</role>
</name>
<originInfo>
<dateIssued>2019-05</dateIssued>
</originInfo>
<typeOfResource>text</typeOfResource>
<relatedItem type="host">
<titleInfo>
<title>Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Computational Semantics - Student Papers</title>
</titleInfo>
<name type="personal">
<namePart type="given">Simon</namePart>
<namePart type="family">Dobnik</namePart>
<role>
<roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">editor</roleTerm>
</role>
</name>
<name type="personal">
<namePart type="given">Stergios</namePart>
<namePart type="family">Chatzikyriakidis</namePart>
<role>
<roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">editor</roleTerm>
</role>
</name>
<name type="personal">
<namePart type="given">Vera</namePart>
<namePart type="family">Demberg</namePart>
<role>
<roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">editor</roleTerm>
</role>
</name>
<name type="personal">
<namePart type="given">Kathrein</namePart>
<namePart type="family">Abu Kwaik</namePart>
<role>
<roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">editor</roleTerm>
</role>
</name>
<name type="personal">
<namePart type="given">Vladislav</namePart>
<namePart type="family">Maraev</namePart>
<role>
<roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">editor</roleTerm>
</role>
</name>
<originInfo>
<publisher>Association for Computational Linguistics</publisher>
<place>
<placeTerm type="text">Gothenburg, Sweden</placeTerm>
</place>
</originInfo>
<genre authority="marcgt">conference publication</genre>
</relatedItem>
<abstract>Under the standard approach to counterfactuals, to determine the meaning of a counterfactual sentence, we consider the “closest” possible world(s) where the antecedent is true, and evaluate the consequent. Building on the standard approach, some researchers have found that the set of worlds to be considered is dependent on context; it evolves with the discourse. Others have focused on how to define the “distance” between possible worlds, using ideas from causal modeling. This paper integrates the two ideas. We present a semantics for counterfactuals that uses a distance measure based on causal laws, that can also change over time. We show how our semantics can be implemented in the Haskell programming language.</abstract>
<identifier type="citekey">lai-pustejovsky-2019-dynamic</identifier>
<identifier type="doi">10.18653/v1/W19-0601</identifier>
<location>
<url>https://aclanthology.org/W19-0601</url>
</location>
<part>
<date>2019-05</date>
<extent unit="page">
<start>1</start>
<end>8</end>
</extent>
</part>
</mods>
</modsCollection>
%0 Conference Proceedings
%T A Dynamic Semantics for Causal Counterfactuals
%A Lai, Kenneth
%A Pustejovsky, James
%Y Dobnik, Simon
%Y Chatzikyriakidis, Stergios
%Y Demberg, Vera
%Y Abu Kwaik, Kathrein
%Y Maraev, Vladislav
%S Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Computational Semantics - Student Papers
%D 2019
%8 May
%I Association for Computational Linguistics
%C Gothenburg, Sweden
%F lai-pustejovsky-2019-dynamic
%X Under the standard approach to counterfactuals, to determine the meaning of a counterfactual sentence, we consider the “closest” possible world(s) where the antecedent is true, and evaluate the consequent. Building on the standard approach, some researchers have found that the set of worlds to be considered is dependent on context; it evolves with the discourse. Others have focused on how to define the “distance” between possible worlds, using ideas from causal modeling. This paper integrates the two ideas. We present a semantics for counterfactuals that uses a distance measure based on causal laws, that can also change over time. We show how our semantics can be implemented in the Haskell programming language.
%R 10.18653/v1/W19-0601
%U https://aclanthology.org/W19-0601
%U https://doi.org/10.18653/v1/W19-0601
%P 1-8
Markdown (Informal)
[A Dynamic Semantics for Causal Counterfactuals](https://aclanthology.org/W19-0601) (Lai & Pustejovsky, IWCS 2019)
ACL
- Kenneth Lai and James Pustejovsky. 2019. A Dynamic Semantics for Causal Counterfactuals. In Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Computational Semantics - Student Papers, pages 1–8, Gothenburg, Sweden. Association for Computational Linguistics.