Non-Quineian Unless

Abstract

In Quine's prospect, unless has been interpreted as "inclusive or". Quineian unless as a functional connective induces a contradiction due to lack of equivalency between p ∨ q ∨ r and (p ∨ q) ∧ (p ∨ r). This proposal presents two linguistic interpretation for unless according to its dictionary meaning, which are functional and commutative connectives: "Exclusive or" and "not both". Although not successful, Quine tried to modify the phrases containing unless to defend his interpretation as commutative truth-functional connective. Unlike Quine, I didn't change the tense of propositions and yet preserved commutativity.

Keywords: Convergency, Divergency, Linguistic, Quine, Temporal propositions, Unless