The Correspondence Theory of Truth: An Essay on the Metaphysics of Predication

by Andrew Newman

• ISBN13: 9780521811392
• ISBN10: 0521811392
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-06-24
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This work presents a version of the correspondence theory of truth based on Wittgenstein's Tractatus and Russell's theory of truth and discusses related metaphysical issues such as predication, facts and propositions. Like Russell and one prominent interpretation of the Tractatus it assumes a realist view of universals. Part of the aim is to avoid Platonic propositions, and although sympathy with facts is maintained in the early chapters, the book argues that facts as real entities are not needed. It includes discussion of contemporary philosophers such as David Armstrong, William Alston and Paul Horwich, as well as those who write about propositions and facts, and a number of students of Bertrand Russell. It will interest teachers and advanced students of philosophy who are interested in the realistic conception of truth and in issues in metaphysics related to the correspondence theory of truth, and those interested in Russell and the Tractatus.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	xii
Introduction	1	(9)
Universals, Predication, and Truth	10	(23)
The Problem of Universals	10	(5)
Theories of Universals	15	(5)
Predication, Participation, and Inherence	20	(6)
Universals, Truth, and Devitt	26	(7)
The Univocity of Truth	33	(20)
Horwich and Deflationary Theories of Truth	33	(4)
Alston and Minimalist Realism about Truth	37	(5)
The Problem of the Univocity of Truth	42	(5)
Reality and the Eleatic Principle	47	(6)
The Correspondence Theory for Predicative Sentences	53	(35)
Difficulties about States of Affairs in the Tractatus	53	(5)
Truth as Isomorphism between Sentence and State of Affairs	58	(3)
The Nominalist Account of Atomic Facts	61	(5)
The Realist Account of Atomic Facts	66	(6)
Correspondence for Sentences with and without Facts	72	(5)
The Notion of Content	77	(2)
Austin's Theory of Truth	79	(9)
Appendix 3.1: The Role of Mental Sentences in Tractarian Belief	83	(3)
Appendix 3.2: The Tractatus's Attitude to Truth	86	(2)
Russell's Theory of Truth and Its Principal Problems	88	(20)
The Virtues of Russell's Theory of Truth	88	(2)
The Variants of Russell's Theory of Truth	90	(6)
The Major Problems of Russell's Theory	96	(1)
The Problem of the Twofold Role of the Relation	97	(5)
The Modes of Composition of Entities	102	(6)
How Predicative Beliefs Correspond to the World	108	(32)
The Objections to Russell's Theory Analysed as Dilemmas	108	(3)
A Formal Hypothesis in Defence of Russell's Theory	111	(4)
Informal Justification of the Formal Hypothesis	115	(2)
Correspondence for Predicative Beliefs	117	(4)
Criterion of Identity for Russellian Propositions	121	(3)
Intentional Relations	124	(3)
Russellian Propositions as Constructions	127	(3)
The Identity Theory of Truth	130	(10)
Appendix 5.1: Answers to Other Objections to Russell's Theory	132	(8)
The Metaphysics of Facts	140	(32)
Metaphysical Accounts of the Nature of Facts	140	(9)
Armstrong and Facts as Truth Makers	149	(5)
The Linguistic View of Facts and States of Affairs	154	(5)
Olson's Account of Facts	159	(9)
The Slingshot and the Great Fact	168	(4)
The Metaphysics of propositions	172	(24)
Current Theories of propositions	172	(4)
Minimalism about Propositions	176	(6)
The Ontological Case for Platonism about Propositions	182	(3)
Bealer on Structureless Platonic Propositions	185	(5)
The Structure of Platonic Propositions	190	(3)
Immanent Russellian Propositions	193	(3)
The Correspondence Theory and Complex Propositions	196	(40)
Complex Propositions and Compound Propositions	196	(4)
Propositions as Subjects of Predication	200	(6)
Conjunction as a Function	206	(1)
Negation and Positive and Negative Entities	207	(4)
Negative Predicative Sentences, Their Truth Conditions and Truth Makers	211	(2)
The Concept of Negation and Negative Propositions	213	(3)
Universal Sentences	216	(4)
Negative Existentially Quantified Sentences	220	(1)
The Problem of Identity Sentences	221	(15)
Appendix 8.1: Logical Constants as Functions	230	(6)
Bibliography	236	(9)
Index	245