A Process Algebaraic Approach to Situation Semantics

Abstract

We propose a way to base Situation Semantic to a computational ground of concurrency and to linear logic. One of the core ideas of Situation Semantics is ecological realism, the idea that meaning arises from the interaction between a cognitive agent and his/her environments. We model both the agent and environments as a process and study the interaction as a system of communicating processes. We turn to the n-calculus to construct semantic objects employed in Situation Theoretic Discourse Representation Theory (ST-DRT) . The construction helps us relate ST-DRT with linear logic, through our translation of the calculus to a combinatory intuitionistic linear logic. The multiplicative conjunction then enables us to build up various semantic objects as a theory. By conceiving of linear logic as a theory of information flow, we can establish a connection between Channel Theory and ST-DRT.