Causes and wishes : Issues in the temporal configuration of subjunctive clauses

old_uid8894
titleCauses and wishes : Issues in the temporal configuration of subjunctive clauses
start_date2010/06/14
schedule14h30-16h30
onlineno
summaryAccording to a distinction originally due to Stowell (1993) and subsequently exploited by Quer (1998, 2006), “intensional subjunctives” - as opposed to “polarity subjunctives” _ are lexically selected by a semantic class of matrix predicates which also impose a particular (non-anterior or futurate) temporal orientation on their argument clauses: directives, causatives and volitionals. Careful examination of the licit temporal configurations for subjunctive clauses shows, however, that intensional subjunctives do not conform to a homogeneous pattern: in particular, the argument clauses of “volitionals” deviate in manifold ways from the expected temporal orientation and give rise in some cases to interpretive effects that parallel those found with modal verbs, most notably as regards the distinction between epistemic and counterfactual construals. In this presentation, I explore the possibility of accounting for the behaviour of “volitionals” by exploiting their double nature as evaluative propositional attitudes and as dispositions to act (Kenny 1963, Heim 1992, Portner 1997).
responsiblesNC