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Full Idea
On Russell's pre-war conception it is obvious that a complex cannot be negative. If a complex were true, what would make it false would be its non-existence, not the existence of some other complex.
Gist of Idea
There can't be a negative of a complex, which is negated by its non-existence
Source
comment on Bertrand Russell (The Theory of Knowledge [1913]) by Michael Potter - The Rise of Analytic Philosophy 1879-1930 41 'Neg'
Book Ref
Potter,Michael: 'The Rise of Anaytic Philosophy 1879-1930' [Routledge 2020], p.276
A Reaction
It might be false because it doesn't exist, but also 'made' false by a rival complex (such as Desdemona loving Othello).
| 22316 | A positive and negative fact have the same constituents; their difference is primitive [Russell] |
| 22315 | There can't be a negative of a complex, which is negated by its non-existence [Potter on Russell] |
| 22312 | Facts can be both positive and negative [Wittgenstein, by Potter] |
| 22311 | The world is determined by the facts, and there are no further facts [Wittgenstein] |
| 22313 | The existence of atomic facts is a positive fact, their non-existence a negative fact [Wittgenstein] |
| 22314 | On white paper a black spot is a positive fact and a white spot a negative fact [Wittgenstein] |