Negative Polarity, presuppositions, and the Harmony hypothesis

Abstract

I present the idea that any denotes a disharmonious quantifier: a device for logically incoherent “all or nothing” generalizations. To prevent triviality, any cannot be used with assertoric force in the premises, conclusion, or presuppositions of a valid argument: a restriction that the grammar implements as an exclusion from Strawson upward monotone environments.