Basic Questions on Truth

by Weingartner, Paul

• ISBN13: 9780792362241
• ISBN10: 0792362241
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-07-01
• Publisher: Kluwer Academic Pub

Summary

There are basic questions concerning truth that have been perennial throughout the history of philosophy from the Ancient Greeks onwards: Is 'true' a superfluous particle? Is 'true' a predicate? What is the relation of truth to the validity of inference rules? Are definitions true or false? What are the bearers of truth - sentences, judgements, or propositions? Can truth be interpreted by correspondence to facts, despite difficulties with the Liar and with a definition of 'fact' ? Can we have a consistent and adequate understanding of approximate truth (verisimilitude)? And the metaphysical question: does truth have some relation to being? All these questions are treated in a rigorous argumentation style: (1) Question, (2) objections to a positive answer, (3) answer and thesis, (4) comments and reply to the objections. This transparent, systematic style facilitates our understanding, touches on a variety of aspects of the question, and teaches us to think.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgements	vii
Is it appropriate to ask ``What is truth?''	1	(6)
Is it appropriate to ask for the meaning or for the definition of the expression ``truth'', ``the true'' or ``true''?	7	(10)
Is the expression true superfluous and/or not a predicate	17	(12)
Can the rules of a deductive system be called true or false?	29	(16)
Are definitions true or false?	45	(35)
Judgements, propositions, sentences	80	(28)
Is a sentence true iff it corresponds to reality	108	(46)
Are there negative facts or properties?	154	(20)
Can a false theory be nearer to the truth than another false theory?	174	(21)
Ens et verum convertuntur?	195	(12)
References	207	(16)
Name index	223	(3)
Subject index	226