000			01681nam a2200217Ia 4500
999			_c229580 _d229580
005			20211203180126.0
008			200208s9999 xx 000 0 und d
020			_a9780199545902
082			_a160 DEE
100			_a"Deemter,Kees Van"
245		0	_aNot exactly in praise of vagueness
260			_aOxford
260			_bO.U.P
260			_c2010
300			_a341p.
365			_b9000
365			_dRS
520			_aNot everything is black and white. Our daily lives are full of vagueness or fuzziness. Language is the most obvious example - for instance, when we describe someone as tall, it is as though there is a particular height beyond which a person can be considered 'tall'. Likewise the terms 'blond' or 'overweight' in common usage. We often think in discontinuous categories when we are considering something continuous. In this book, van Deemter cuts across various disciplines in considering the nature and importance of vagueness. He looks at the principles of measurement, and how we choose categories; the vagueness lurking behind what seems at first sight crisp concepts such as that of the biological 'species'; uncertainties in grammar and the impact of vagueness on the programmes of Chomsky and Montague; vagueness and mathematical logic; computers, vague descriptions, and Natural Language Generation in AI (a new class of programs will allow computers to handle descriptions such as 'the man in the yellow shirt'). Van Deemter shows why vagueness is in various circumstances both unavoidable and useful, and how we are increasingly able to handle fuzziness in mathematical logic and computer science.
650			_aVagueness
942			_cB _2ddc