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Full Idea
It seems that when a proposition is false, something does not subsist which would subsist if the proposition were true.
Gist of Idea
It seems that when a proposition is false, something must fail to subsist
Source
Bertrand Russell (Meinong on Complexes and Assumptions [1904], p.76)
Book Ref
Russell,Bertrand: 'Essays in Analysis', ed/tr. Lackey,Douglas [George Braziller 1973], p.76
A Reaction
This looks to me like a commitment by Russell to the truthmaker principle. The negations of false propositions are made true by some failure of existence in the world.
Related Idea
Idea 21543 If p is false, then believing not-p is knowing a truth, so negative propositions must exist [Russell]
21544 | It seems that when a proposition is false, something must fail to subsist [Russell] |
15547 | Negative existentials have 'totality facts' as truthmakers [Armstrong, by Lewis] |
18377 | Negative truths have as truthmakers all states of affairs relevant to the truth [Armstrong] |
18382 | The nature of arctic animals is truthmaker for the absence of penguins there [Armstrong] |
15549 | If it were true that nothing at all existed, would that have a truthmaker? [Lewis] |
9139 | If nothing exists, no truthmakers could make 'Nothing exists' true [Sorensen] |
14394 | It is implausible that claims about non-existence are about existing things [Merricks] |
18479 | There are different types of truthmakers for different types of negative truth [MacBride] |
18477 | There aren't enough positive states out there to support all the negative truths [MacBride] |
18869 | Without truthmakers, negative truths must be ungrounded [Cameron] |