Daniel Lassiter
Daniel Lassiter
Senior Lecturer in Semantics, Linguistics & English Language, University of Edinburgh
Research interests: Semantics, pragmatics, philosophy of language, computational cognitive science, linguistic applications of probability and decision theory.
Contact: dan.lassiter <|"at sign"|> ed <|"dot"|> ac <|"dot"|> uk
Research overview
My research focuses on theories of meaning and reasoning, and their role in communication. I use logical, computational, and experimental methods to bring together the insights of linguistic semantics & pragmatics with philosophical and psychological work on reasoning and decision making. Much of my work has focused the use of probabilistic models to illuminate linguistic phenomena such as vagueness, presupposition, implicature, and the lexical semantics of modals and conditionals.
Google Scholar profile
CV
Writing
2024
Distinguishing semantics, pragmatics, and reasoning in the theory of conditionalsInquiry.
Pragmatic intrusion in probability judgment: The case of conditionals [D. Lassiter & C. Li]
Proceedings of CogSci 2024. [OSF repo with data and analysis script]
The rationality of inferring causation from correlational language [D. Lassiter & M. Franke]
Proceedings of CogSci 2024.
Variability in communication contexts determines the convexity of semantic category systems emerging in neural networks [V. Nedelcu, D. Lassiter and K. Smith]
Proceedings of CogSci 2024.
Graded causatives [A. Cao, A. S. White and D. Lassiter]
To appear in Experiments in Linguistic Meaning 3.
2023
The crucial role of compositional semantics in the study of reasoningIn Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Human and Artificial Rationalities (HAR 2023). [Publisher's version]
Coherence, not conditional meaning, accounts for the relevance effect [M. Bourlier, B. Jacquet, D. Lassiter and J. Baratgin]
Frontiers in Psychology.
Degree of heterogeneity in the contexts of language users mediates the cognitive-communicative trade-off in semantic categorization [V. Nedelcu, K. Smith and D. Lassiter]
Proceedings of CogSci 2023.
2022
Probabilistic modeling of rational communication with conditionals [B. Grusdt, D. Lassiter and M. Franke]Semantics & Pragmatics.
Decomposing relevance in conditionals
Mind & Language.
2021
Syntactic satiation is driven by speaker-specific adaptation [J. Lu, D. Lassiter & J. Degen]Proceedings of CogSci 2021.
Nested conditionals and genericity in the de Finetti semantics [D. Lassiter & J. Baratgin]
Thought: A Journal of Philosophy. [Publisher's version]
2020
Belief vs. knowledge: An epic battle, but no clear victorBehavioral & Brain Sciences. (Commentary on Phillips et al., "Knowledge before belief")
Graded modality
In Matthewson et al (eds.), Blackwell Companion to Semantics. [Publisher's Version]
2019
What we can learn from how trivalent conditionals avoid trivialityInquiry. [Publisher's version]
Representing credal imprecision: From sets of measures to hierarchical Bayesian models
Philosophical Studies. [Publisher's version]
Talking about (quasi-)higher-order uncertainty
In Condoravdi & King (eds.), Tokens of Meaning: Papers in Honor of Lauri Karttunen.
2018
Complex sentential operators refute unrestricted Simplification of Disjunctive AntecedentsSemantics & Pragmatics.
An experimental look at the negative implications of exceptives [P. Nadathur & D. Lassiter]
Proceedings of NELS 48.
What do eye movements in the visual world reflect? A case study from adjectives [C. Qing, D. Lassiter & J. Degen]
Proceedings of the 40th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society.
2017
Graded Modality: Qualitative and Quantitative Perspectives. Oxford University Press.[pre-final draft]
Adjectival vagueness in a Bayesian model of interpretation [D. Lassiter & N.Goodman]
Synthese. [Publisher's version] [Model code in WebPPL]
Complex antecedents and probabilities in causal counterfactuals
Proceedings of the 21st Amsterdam Colloquium.
Probabilistic language in indicative and counterfactual conditionals
Semantics and Linguistic Theory 27.
Bayes nets and the dynamics of probabilistic language
Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung 21.
Review of Y. Winter, Elements of Formal Semantics
Journal of Linguistics. [Publisher's version]
2016
Must, knowledge, and (in)directnessNatural Language Semantics. [Publisher's version] [Data and analysis code]
Embedded implicatures as pragmatic inferences under compositional lexical uncertainty [C.Potts, D. Lassiter, R.Levy, & M.Frank]
Journal of Semantics. [Publisher's version] [experiment, data, and model code]
Linguistic and philosophical considerations on Bayesian semantics
In M. Chrisman & N. Charlow (eds.), Deontic Modals, OUP.
A rational speech-act model of projective content
Proceedings of the 38th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. [C.Qing, N.Goodman & D. Lassiter]
2015
How many kinds of reasoning? Inference, probability, and natural language semantics [D. Lassiter & N. Goodman]Cognition. [Publisher's version] [Data, etc.]
Probabilistic Semantics and Pragmatics: Uncertainty in Language and Thought [N.Goodman & D. Lassiter]
Handbook of Contemporary Semantic Theory — 2nd edition, ed. C. Fox & S. Lappin. [Link to book website]
Adjectival modification and gradation
Handbook of Contemporary Semantic Theory — 2nd edition, ed. C. Fox & S. Lappin. [Link to book website]
Unless: An experimental approach [P. Nadathur & D. Lassiter]
Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung 2014.
2014
The weakness of must: In defense of a MantraSemantics and Linguistic Theory (SALT) 24.
[Superseded by "Must, knowledge, and (in)directness", published in Natural Language Semantics in 2016.]
Modality, scale structure, and scalar reasoning
Pacific Philosophical Quarterly. [Publisher's version]
Epistemic comparison, models of uncertainty, and the disjunction puzzle
Journal of Semantics. [Publisher's version]
2013
Context, scale structure, and statistics in the interpretation of positive-form adjectivesSemantics and Linguistic Theory (SALT) 23. [D. Lassiter & N.Goodman] [Model code in WebPPL]
2012
Presuppositions, provisos, and probabilitySemantics & Pragmatics.
Quantificational and modal interveners in degree constructions
Semantics and Linguistic Theory (SALT) 22.
How many kinds of reasoning? Inference, probability, and natural language semantics
Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. [D. Lassiter & N.Goodman]
2011
Measurement and Modality: The Scalar Basis of Modal SemanticsPh.D. dissertation, NYU Linguistics, 2011 (supervisor: Chris Barker).
Nouwen's puzzle and a scalar semantics for obligations, needs, and desires
Semantics and Linguistic Theory (SALT) 21.
Vagueness as probabilistic linguistic knowledge
In R. Nouwen et al. (eds.), Vagueness in Communication.
Anaphoric properties of which and the syntax of appositive relatives
NYU Working Papers in Linguistics.
2010
Gradable epistemic modals, probability, and scale structureSemantics and Linguistic Theory (SALT) 20.
The Algebraic Structure of Amounts: Evidence from Comparatives
In T. Icard & R. Muskens (eds.), Interfaces: Explorations in Logic, Language, and Computation.
Where is the Conflict between Internalism and Externalism? A Reply to Lohndal and Narita
Biolinguistics.
Explaining a restriction on the scope of the comparative operator
Penn Working Papers in Linguistics.
Semantic Normativity and Coordination Games: Social Externalism Deflated
Croatian Journal of Philosophy.
2009
Symmetric Presupposition Satisfaction is Mid-Sentence Presupposition CorrectionPresented at the ESSLLI workshop New Directions in the Theory of Presupposition organized by N. Klinedinst & D. Rothschild.
2008
Semantic Externalism, Language Variation, and Sociolinguistic Accommodation (2008)Mind and Language. [Publisher's version]
Edited volume: Daniel Lassiter and Marija Slavkovik (eds). New Directions in Logic, Language, & Computation. Lecture Notes in Computer Science vol. 7415. Springer, 2012 (250pp).