Single Idea 8168

[catalogued under 19. Language / A. Nature of Meaning / 4. Meaning as Truth-Conditions]

Full Idea

You can know the condition for a sentence to be true only when you know what the sentence means.

Gist of Idea

To know the truth-conditions of a sentence, you must already know the meaning

Source

Michael Dummett (Thought and Reality [1997], 3)

Book Reference

Dummett,Michael: 'Thought and Reality (Gifford Lectures)' [OUP 2006], p.32


A Reaction

This makes the truth-conditions theory of meaning circular, and is Dummett's big objection to Davidson's view. The composition of a sentence creates a model of a world. Truth-conditions may only presuppose knowledge of concepts.