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Full Idea
Tarski's definition of truth is like giving a definition of what it is to win in various games, without giving a hint as to what winning is (e.g. that it is what one tries to do when playing).
Gist of Idea
Tarski's truth is like rules for winning games, without saying what 'winning' means
Source
report of Michael Dummett (Truth [1959]) by Donald Davidson - Truth and Predication 7
Book Ref
Davidson,Donald: 'Truth and Predication' [Belknap Harvard 2005], p.151
A Reaction
This led Dummett to his 'normative' account of truth. Formally, the fact that speakers usually aim at truth seems irrelevant, but in life you certainly wouldn't have grasped truth if you thought falsehood was just as satisfactory. The world is involved.
| 19171 | Tarski's truth is like rules for winning games, without saying what 'winning' means [Dummett, by Davidson] |
| 10838 | To explain a concept, we need its purpose, not just its rules of usage [Dummett] |
| 10837 | It is part of the concept of truth that we aim at making true statements [Dummett] |
| 10839 | You can't infer a dog's abstract concepts from its behaviour [Dummett] |
| 10840 | We must be able to specify truths in a precise language, like winning moves in a game [Dummett] |