Cross-world extremum under entailment #
@cite{fox-2007} @cite{fox-hackl-2006} @cite{beck-rullmann-1999} @cite{von-fintel-fox-iatridou-2014} @cite{rouillard-2026}
The cross-world entailment-based "maximally informative" predicate (IsMaxInf)
that has no mathlib analogue, plus mathlib bridges for the per-world
specialization, plus the MIP_Licensed licensing predicate combining
non-constancy with per-world extremum existence.
Two formulations #
The mathlib-shape per-world reading is just IsLeast {y | P y w} x
(or IsGreatest) — call mathlib directly. The Fox 2007-style cross-world
reading is unique to formal semantics:
IsMaxInf P x w := P x w ∧ ∀ y, P y w → ∀ w', P x w' → P y w'
reading: at world w, x is true; and for any other true alternative y at w,
the proposition denoted by x entails the proposition denoted by y across
every world. Equivalently: x denotes the smallest proposition (in subset
order on Set W) among true alternatives at w. Bridge to per-world via
mathlib's MonotoneOn.map_isLeast family.
Two predicates fail under different conditions, so the MIP licensing condition is their conjunction:
AdmitsOptimum P(non-constancy in α; the atelic / homogeneous failure): fails when every alternative denotes the same proposition — no informative distinction among alternatives.IsLeast {y | P y w} x(existence of a smallest-true alternative; the no-extremum failure under density): fails when the true set is upward-closed with no minimum (e.g.,Set.Ioi ain a dense linear order).
Naming #
The shared mathematical structure — extracting the extremal element of an
indexed family under an evaluation map — also appears outside semantics
(notably as argmax_u (ln P_L0(s | u)) in RSA-style pragmatics; both pick
the most informative alternative under their respective evaluation map).
The file lives in Theories/Semantics/Entailment/ because the cross-world
quantifier is the entailment relation between propositions.
Beck-Rullmann attribution #
@cite{beck-rullmann-1999} introduce answer1(w)(Q) = ⋂{p : Q(w)(p) ∧ p(w)} —
the conjunction of all true Hamblin propositions at w. For upward-monotone
scalar predicates this reduces to the smallest-true-degree case captured by
IsLeast. For non-scalar predicates (their §4.4) it is the literal
conjunction and not an extremum. So the IsLeast per-world reading is
an ergonomic specialization of Beck-Rullmann answerhood under monotonicity,
not their primary formulation.
A scale value x is maximally informative in a degree property P
at world w iff P x w is true and P x entails P y (across every
world) for every other true P y w.
The unified exhaustivity condition underlying only-implicatures, degree questions, and definite descriptions in the @cite{fox-2007} / @cite{von-fintel-fox-iatridou-2014} tradition. @cite{rouillard-2026} specializes this to numerals in temporal in-adverbials.
Equations
- Semantics.Entailment.Extremum.IsMaxInf P x w = (P x w ∧ ∀ (y : α), P y w → ∀ (w' : W), P x w' → P y w')
Instances For
A degree property has a maximally informative element at world w.
Equations
- Semantics.Entailment.Extremum.HasMaxInf P w = ∃ (x : α), Semantics.Entailment.Extremum.IsMaxInf P x w
Instances For
Information collapse: no element is maximally informative at any world. @cite{fox-hackl-2006}: this is why degree questions fail over dense complements, why only + "more than n" is contradictory, and why definite descriptions over dense open sets lack a presupposition-satisfying referent.
Equations
Instances For
For an upward-monotone family, a per-world smallest-true value is cross-world maximally informative. The converse requires threshold-witness assumptions on the world space (one direction only).
Dually for downward-monotone families: the per-world largest-true value is cross-world maximally informative.
Maximal Informativity Principle licensing for upward-monotone derived properties (e.g., E-TIA telic in @cite{rouillard-2026}). The conjunction captures both failure modes:
AdmitsOptimum P(non-constancy): the family distinguishes alternatives at all (failure mode for atelic / homogeneous predicates).IsLeast {y | P y w} xat somew: a smallest true value exists (failure mode under density without minimum).
Equations
- Semantics.Entailment.Extremum.MIP_Licensed P = (Core.Scale.AdmitsOptimum P ∧ ∃ (w : W) (x : α), IsLeast {y : α | P y w} x)
Instances For
Dual MIP licensing for downward-monotone derived properties (e.g., G-TIA in negative perfects).
Equations
- Semantics.Entailment.Extremum.MIP_LicensedDown P = (Core.Scale.AdmitsOptimum P ∧ ∃ (w : W) (x : α), IsGreatest {y : α | P y w} x)
Instances For
Migrated from Core/Scales/Scale.lean: applications of IsMaxInf to
the canonical degree predicates atLeastDeg, moreThanDeg, atMostDeg
(defined in Scale.lean, monotonicity proven there). The pure scale
theory stays in Scale.lean; the IsMaxInf-flavored consequences live
here as a downstream entailment-theoretic application.
"At least d" always has a maximally informative element: d₀ = μ(w).
This holds on ANY scale — dense or discrete — because the actual value μ(w) is always in the domain and "at least μ(w)" entails "at least d" for all d ≤ μ(w) by transitivity.
This is why bare numerals generate scalar implicatures regardless
of scale density: the ≥ relation creates a closed set with a
natural maximum at the true value.
Implicature asymmetry (@cite{fox-2007}, @cite{fox-hackl-2006}): on a dense scale, "more than n" has NO maximally informative element.
For any candidate d₀ < μ(w), density gives d' ∈ (d₀, μ(w)). A witness world w₁ with μ(w₁) ∈ (d₀, d') has "more than d₀" true but "more than d'" false — so d₀ does not entail d'.
The hSurj hypothesis says every degree value is realized by some
possible world.
Kennedy / @cite{fox-hackl-2006} bridge (point-realization form):
IsMaxInf of the "at least" degree property at value m and world w holds
iff μ w = m, given only that m itself is in the image of μ. This is
strictly weaker than full Function.Surjective μ and is the hypothesis
actually used in the proof.
Kennedy / @cite{fox-hackl-2006} bridge: IsMaxInf of the "at least"
degree property at value m and world w holds iff the measure at w
equals m, under full surjectivity. Corollary of isMaxInf_atLeast_of_hit.
On ℕ, "more than m" has HasMaxInf: the discrete collapse rescues maximality.
Contrast with moreThan_noMaxInf: on dense scales, HasMaxInf fails.
"At most d" always has a maximally informative element: d₀ = μ(w).
Symmetric to atLeast_hasMaxInf.
Kennedy / @cite{rouillard-2026} bridge: IsMaxInf of "at most d" at
value m and world w holds iff the measure at w equals m. Symmetric to
isMaxInf_atLeast_iff_eq: the MIP derives exact meaning from "at most"
just as it does from "at least".
Kennedy's de-Fregean type-shift is the MIP applied to a monotone degree property: for both "at least" (Kennedy direction) and "at most" (@cite{rouillard-2026} direction), max⊨ at world w = μ(w), the true value. So the MIP universally derives exact meaning from monotone degree properties, regardless of monotonicity direction.
MIP derives exact meaning from "at least" (Kennedy's direction).
MIP derives exact meaning from "at most" (Rouillard's direction).
The MIP is direction-invariant: "at least" and "at most" yield the same exact meaning under maximal informativity. Kennedy's type-shift and Rouillard's MIP are literally the same operation.