Multiple Head Comparison and Infinite Regress

The truth conditions of (1) are expressed by (1'). The operation of comparison is triggered by the elements more, fewer, less, as and -er. One of these elements always has to be present in the part of the comparative preceding than or as. Therefore, I will refer to these elements as `comparative operators'. Comparative operators usually immediately precede the element of which the degree or quantity is compared. So, whereas in (1) the number of dogs is compared to some element in the than-clause, in (2) the number of rats is compared to some element in the than-clause because the comparative operator precedes the noun rats instead of the noun dogs.