ATLAS OF LANGUAGE

Contextual explanation · NAV-G05-029

Type error

This explanation addresses the term in its originating context. It is not an additional canonical Atlas profile.

Explanation

A type error occurs within an explicitly specified system when an operation requires a value or expression of one type but receives an inadmissible type. Whether an application is permitted depends on that system's rules and available conversions. Its relationship to a philosophical category mistake is therefore comparative, not unrestricted identity. Natural language can make some apparently mismatched combinations interpretable through polysemy, metaphor or coercion. Calling something a type error consequently requires identifying the assumed categories and violated requirement rather than dismissing unusual statements as meaningless.

Movement of thought

1. State the type system. 2. Identify the requirement. 3. Determine the supplied type. 4. Check permitted conversions. 5. Separate error from alternative interpretation.

Example

A formal calculation expects a number, receives a string and permits no automatic conversion.

Counter-test

A program's rejection of a combination does not establish that an analogous natural-language sentence is philosophically meaningless.

Scientific use case

Formal semantics can distinguish inadmissible applications from licensed adjustment rules.

Effect

Type errors reveal the limits of an explicitly chosen system of operations.

Resonance

An answer may fail to fit the form of the question.

Distinction

Distinguish a formal type error from a typo, every metaphor and every category mistake.

Sources