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Single Idea 19062

[filed under theme 5. Theory of Logic / I. Semantics of Logic / 1. Semantics of Logic ]

Full Idea

The standard two-valued semantics for classical logic involves a conception under which to grasp the meaning of a sentence is to apprehend the conditions under which it is, or is not, true.

Gist of Idea

Classical two-valued semantics implies that meaning is grasped through truth-conditions

Source

Michael Dummett (The Justification of Deduction [1973], p.305)

Book Ref

Dummett,Michael: 'Truth and Other Enigmas' [Duckworth 1978], p.305


A Reaction

The idea is that you only have to grasp the truth tables for sentential logic, and that needs nothing more than knowing whether a sentence is true or false. I'm not sure where the 'conditions' creep in, though.


The 11 ideas from 'The Justification of Deduction'

Deduction is justified by the semantics of its metalanguage [Dummett, by Hanna]
Syntactic consequence is positive, for validity; semantic version is negative, with counterexamples [Dummett]
In standard views you could replace 'true' and 'false' with mere 0 and 1 [Dummett]
Truth-tables are dubious in some cases, and may be a bad way to explain connective meaning [Dummett]
An explanation is often a deduction, but that may well beg the question [Dummett]
Classical two-valued semantics implies that meaning is grasped through truth-conditions [Dummett]
Beth trees show semantics for intuitionistic logic, in terms of how truth has been established [Dummett]
Holism is not a theory of meaning; it is the denial that a theory of meaning is possible [Dummett]
Soundness and completeness proofs test the theory of meaning, rather than the logic theory [Dummett]
Philosophy aims to understand the world, through ordinary experience and science [Dummett]
A successful proof requires recognition of truth at every step [Dummett]