Acceptance & Rejection

Abstract

In this paper, we argue that acceptance and rejection are classical speech acts that express two opposite polar positions toward propositional content and can be systematically represented within a classically outlined bilateral formal model. Acceptance occupies the positive pole, represented by positive A, whereas rejection occupies the negative pole, represented by minus A. Their classical relationship is mediated by negation because acceptance of A corresponds to rejection of negation A, while rejection of A corresponds to acceptance of negation A, represented by positive A iff minus negation A and minus A iff positive negation A. Coherency and incoherency are introduced as supplementary notions to clarify this relationship and its connection with reflexivity. A further result of the manuscript is the methodical distinction between rejection and negation namely, rejection expresses negative polarity toward A, whereas negation operates upon propositional content.