Ambiguity in Natural and Artistic Languages: A Quantum Semantic Analysis

Abstract

The quantum computational semantics can be naturally applied to fields (far apart from microphysics) where ambiguity, vagueness, holism, and contextuality play an essential role. On this basis one can develop a general theory of vague possible worlds, which allows us to understand some abstract reasons why a “metaphorical thinking” is often successfully used in the languages of art and sometimes even in the field of exact sciences. A significant case is represented by musical languages, whose semantics can be formally analyzed by using some basic concepts of the quantum-theoretic formalism. In this framework, both musical thoughts and extra-musical meanings (evoked by musical compositions) can be represented as special examples of quantum superpositions: ambiguous ideas that essentially allude to a “cloud” of alternative possibilities.