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Single Idea 19211
[filed under theme 19. Language / D. Propositions / 3. Concrete Propositions
]
Full Idea
I describe Russell's 1903 account of propositions as the view that each proposition is identical with the state of affairs that makes that proposition true. That is, a proposition is identical with its 'truthmaking' state of affairs.
Gist of Idea
Early Russell says a proposition is identical with its truthmaking state of affairs
Source
Trenton Merricks (Propositions [2015], 4.II)
Book Ref
Merricks,Trenton: 'Propositions' [OUP 2015], p.124
A Reaction
Russell soon gave this view up (false propositions proving tricky), and I'm amazed anyone takes it seriously. I take it as axiomatic that if there were no minds there would be no propositions. Was the Big Bang a set of propositions?
The
17 ideas
from 'Propositions'
19200
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Propositions are standardly treated as possible worlds, or as structured
[Merricks]
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19201
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Propositions can be 'about' an entity, but that doesn't make the entity a constituent of it
[Merricks]
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19202
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Propositions are necessary existents which essentially (but inexplicably) represent things
[Merricks]
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19203
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A sentence's truth conditions depend on context
[Merricks]
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19204
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True propositions existed prior to their being thought, and might never be thought
[Merricks]
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19205
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'Snow is white' only contingently expresses the proposition that snow is white
[Merricks]
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19207
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Sentence logic maps truth values; predicate logic maps objects and sets
[Merricks]
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19206
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'Cicero is an orator' represents the same situation as 'Tully is an orator', so they are one proposition
[Merricks]
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19209
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Simple Quantified Modal Logc doesn't work, because the Converse Barcan is a theorem
[Merricks]
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19208
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The Converse Barcan implies 'everything exists necessarily' is a consequence of 'necessarily, everything exists'
[Merricks]
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19210
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The standard view of propositions says they never change their truth-value
[Merricks]
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19211
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Early Russell says a proposition is identical with its truthmaking state of affairs
[Merricks]
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19212
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Unity of the proposition questions: what unites them? can the same constituents make different ones?
[Merricks]
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19213
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We want to explain not just what unites the constituents, but what unites them into a proposition
[Merricks]
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19214
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In twinning, one person has the same origin as another person
[Merricks]
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19217
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I don't accept that if a proposition is directly about an entity, it has a relation to the entity
[Merricks]
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19215
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Arguers often turn the opponent's modus ponens into their own modus tollens
[Merricks]
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