Elliott & Sudo (2025): Free Choice with Anaphora #
Bilateral Update Semantics (BUS) applied to bathroom disjunctions.
The puzzle #
Bathroom disjunction: "Either there's no bathroom or it's in a funny place."
From this, we infer:
- It's possible there's no bathroom
- It's possible there's a bathroom AND it's in a funny place
The pronoun "it" in the second disjunct is bound by the existential in the negated first disjunct. This cross-disjunct anaphora is puzzling because:
- Standard FC: ◇(φ ∨ ψ) → ◇φ ∧ ◇ψ (no anaphoric connection)
- With anaphora: ◇(¬∃xφ ∨ ψ(x)) → ◇¬∃xφ ∧ ◇(∃x(φ ∧ ψ(x)))
Solution #
BUS + Modal Disjunction:
- Disjunction semantics: φ ∨ ψ entails ◇φ ∧ ◇ψ
- Negation swaps positive/negative: ¬∃xφ positive = ∃xφ negative
- Cross-disjunct binding: x introduced in ¬∃xφ is visible to ψ(x)
Key results #
- Modified FC: ◇(φ ∨ ψ) ⊨ ◇φ ∧ ◇(¬φ ∧ ψ) (the paper's (95))
- FC with anaphora: bathroom inference pattern
- Dual prohibition: ¬◇φ ∧ ¬◇ψ ⊨ ¬(φ ∨ ψ) (preserved)
The paper's disjPos1/disjPos2 (eq. 92) recover the standard positive
update as their union (disjStd_positive_eq, eq. 92c) and simplify for
the bathroom case (eqs. 93–94):
Under these simplification conditions, the general FC preconditions (both disjPos nonempty, eq. 96) yield the bathroom inference.
Bilateral Update Semantics #
BUS ([Ell23], [ES25a]): dynamic semantics with two update
dimensions (positive, negative) that validates DNE and handles cross-disjunct
anaphora. A BUSDen is a BilateralDen at register-form variables; the
operations here add presupposition (hasGap, defined), entailment
(strawsonEntails, strongEntails), and epistemic modality (diamond,
box, the paper's (73)/(77)).
BUS denotation: a bilateral denotation over register-keyed possibilities.
Equations
- ElliottSudo2025.BUSDen W E = DynamicSemantics.BilateralDen W ℕ E
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Truth-value gap: presupposition failure.
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Sentence is defined (no presupposition failure).
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Strawson entailment: φ entails ψ when φ is defined and true.
Equations
- φ.strawsonEntails ψ = ∀ (s : Set (DynamicSemantics.Possibility W ℕ (Part E))), φ.defined s → (φ.positive s).Nonempty → φ.positive s ⊆ ψ.positive (φ.positive s)
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Strong entailment: φ entails ψ with no presupposition failure.
Equations
- φ.strongEntails ψ = ∀ (s : Set (DynamicSemantics.Possibility W ℕ (Part E))), (φ.positive s).Nonempty → ψ.defined (φ.positive s) ∧ φ.positive s ⊆ ψ.positive (φ.positive s)
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Epistemic possibility ([ES25a], (73)): the positive update
returns s when the prejacent's positive update is consistent; the
negative update returns s when the denial is already implicit in s,
modulo introduced anaphoric information — state-level subsistence.
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- One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
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Epistemic possibility ([ES25a], (73)): the positive update
returns s when the prejacent's positive update is consistent; the
negative update returns s when the denial is already implicit in s,
modulo introduced anaphoric information — state-level subsistence.
Equations
- One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
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Epistemic necessity ([ES25a], (77)): the dual, □φ = ¬◇¬φ.
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- One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
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The diamond's positive update as a conditional: s if the prejacent
is possible, absurd otherwise.
The diamond's negative update as a conditional.
Diamond positive is a test (returns s or ∅).
Diamond negative is a test (returns s or ∅).
Diamond positive is eliminative (from IsTest).
Diamond positive subset (convenience form).
Diamond negative is eliminative (from IsTest).
Diamond negative subset (convenience form).
Box positive is eliminative (□φ = ¬◇¬φ, so positive = diamond negative of ¬φ).
Box negative is eliminative.
Modality concepts #
Possibility: state s makes ◇φ true iff s[φ]⁺ is consistent.
Equations
- ElliottSudo2025.possible φ s = (φ.positive s).Nonempty
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Necessity: state s makes □φ true iff s subsists in s[φ]⁺.
Equations
- ElliottSudo2025.necessary φ s = (lowerClosure s ≤ lowerClosure (φ.positive s))
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Impossibility: ¬◇φ iff s[φ]⁺ is empty.
Equations
- ElliottSudo2025.impossible φ s = ¬(φ.positive s).Nonempty
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Modal disjunction (anaphora-sensitive) #
Standard disjunction: the basic bilateral disjunction without FC preconditions.
Equations
- ElliottSudo2025.disjStd φ ψ = φ ⊕ ψ
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The part of the standard disjunction positive update that the first disjunct is responsible for: the (1,*) row of the Strong Kleene truth table.
s[φ ∨ ψ]₁⁺ = s[φ]⁺[ψ]⁺ ∪ s[φ]⁺[ψ]⁻ ∪ s[φ]⁺[ψ]?
Every possibility in s[φ]⁺ is verified by φ, and then classified by ψ
into one of three truth values. (eq. 92a)
Equations
- ElliottSudo2025.disjPos1 φ ψ s = ψ.positive (φ.positive s) ∪ ψ.negative (φ.positive s) ∪ DynamicSemantics.BilateralDen.unknownUpdate ψ (φ.positive s)
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The part of the standard disjunction positive update that the second disjunct is responsible for: the (*,1) column of the Strong Kleene truth table.
s[φ ∨ ψ]₂⁺ = s[φ]⁺[ψ]⁺ ∪ s[φ]⁻[ψ]⁺ ∪ s[φ]?[ψ]⁺
The key term for cross-disjunct anaphora is s[φ]⁻[ψ]⁺: when
φ = ¬∃x.P(x), s[φ]⁻ = s[∃x.P(x)]⁺ by DNE, introducing the
discourse referent for binding across disjuncts. (eq. 92b)
Equations
- ElliottSudo2025.disjPos2 φ ψ s = ψ.positive (φ.positive s) ∪ ψ.positive (φ.negative s) ∪ ψ.positive (DynamicSemantics.BilateralDen.unknownUpdate φ s)
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(92c): the standard positive update is the union of the parts the two disjuncts are responsible for.
Modal Disjunction (anaphora-sensitive version, eq. 96): semantic disjunction that validates FC with anaphora, adding the precondition that each disjunct contribute at least some possibilities. This semantically derives FC without pragmatic reasoning.
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Modal Disjunction (anaphora-sensitive version, eq. 96): semantic disjunction that validates FC with anaphora, adding the precondition that each disjunct contribute at least some possibilities. This semantically derives FC without pragmatic reasoning.
Equations
- ElliottSudo2025.«term_∨ᶠᶜ_» = Lean.ParserDescr.trailingNode `ElliottSudo2025.«term_∨ᶠᶜ_» 60 0 (Lean.ParserDescr.binary `andthen (Lean.ParserDescr.symbol " ∨ᶠᶜ ") (Lean.ParserDescr.cat `term 0))
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ψ.positive (φ.negative s) ⊆ disjPos2 φ ψ s via the middle term.
Free choice theorems (general) #
FC preconditions: if the modal disjunction is possible, both disjuncts contribute possibilities. (eq. 96)
Extract disjPos1 nonemptiness from FC possibility.
Extract disjPos2 nonemptiness from FC possibility.
Dual prohibition #
Dual prohibition via disjPos1: if disjPos1 is empty (first disjunct contributes nothing), modal disjunction is impossible.
Dual prohibition via disjPos2: if disjPos2 is empty (second disjunct contributes nothing), modal disjunction is impossible.
Structural results (DNE, negation, binding) #
Negated existential has existential in negative dimension.
DNE preserves binding.
Divergence from DPL on doubly negated indefinites. The discourse
Examples.double_negation ("It's not the case that John didn't see a
bird. It was singing.") is judged acceptable; BUS derives the binding
because ¬¬φ = φ (dne_preserves_binding), whereas in DPL negation is
a test, so ¬¬∃xφ ≠ ∃xφ and the discourse referent never escapes.
Bathroom configuration #
The bathroom disjunction sentence: ¬∃x.bathroom(x) ∨ᶠᶜ funny-place(x)
Equations
- ElliottSudo2025.bathroomSentence cfg = ~cfg.bathroom ∨ᶠᶜ cfg.funnyPlace
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Free choice with anaphora (bathroom-specific) #
DNE as structural equality: ¬¬φ = φ.
FC with anaphora: the bathroom disjunction inference.
Eqs. 93-94 show that for bathroom disjunctions, the general
disjPos1/disjPos2 (eq. 92) simplify so that:
disjPos1reduces tobath.negative s(possible there's no bathroom)disjPos2reduces tofunnyPlace.positive (bath.positive s)(possible there's a bathroom in a funny place)
The hypotheses h_dp1 and h_dp2 encode these simplifications: the
general forms are contained in the simplified forms, so nonemptiness
of the general forms transfers to the simplified forms.
The paper's partial-familiarity state (56) #
[ES25a]'s (56): a state where x is defined at four
possibilities and undefined at (w∅, []), so x is only partially
familiar. The atomic sentence P(x) gaps at exactly the undefined
possibility, so assertability (54) fails — the situation a uniform-base
state cannot represent.
Equations
- ElliottSudo2025.instDecidableEqPWorld x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯
Equations
- ElliottSudo2025.instDecidableEqPEntity x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯
The paper's [x → e]: register 0 defined, all else ∗.
Equations
- ElliottSudo2025.xTo e n = if n = 0 then Part.some e else ⊥
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The state of (56).
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The gap: (w∅, []) subsists in neither dimension, so it is in the
unknown update (56c).
(56)'s upshot: P(x) is not assertable at the partially familiar
state.
x is not familiar at (56)'s state — familiarity fails, and by
not_assertable_s56 so does assertability; the paper's point is that the
converse can fail (assertability is strictly weaker).
Concrete example #
- noBathroom : BathroomWorld
- bathroomNormal : BathroomWorld
- bathroomFunny : BathroomWorld
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Equations
- ElliottSudo2025.instDecidableEqBathroomWorld x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯
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- ElliottSudo2025.instDecidableEqBathroomEntity x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯
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