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Single Idea 4710
[filed under theme 19. Language / A. Nature of Meaning / 5. Meaning as Verification
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Full Idea
Verificationism came under attack from empiricists who were friendly to the banishment of traditional metaphysics, but unfriendly to the analytic-synthetic distinction, on which the idea of a 'factual statement' depended.
Gist of Idea
Verificationism was attacked by the deniers of the analytic-synthetic distinction, needed for 'facts'
Source
Paul O'Grady (Relativism [2002], Ch.3)
Book Ref
O'Grady,Paul: 'Relativism' [Acumen 2002], p.58
A Reaction
I don't accept this move because I don't consider the 'facts' to be language-dependent. They are pre-linguistic, they outrun that capacity of our language, and they are available to animals.
The
24 ideas
from 'Relativism'
4698
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What counts as a fact partly depends on the availability of human concepts to describe them
[O'Grady]
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4697
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There has been a distinct 'Social Turn' in recent philosophy, like the earlier 'Linguistic Turn'
[O'Grady]
|
4701
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To say a relative truth is inexpressible in other frameworks is 'weak', while saying it is false is 'strong'
[O'Grady]
|
4703
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The epistemic theory of truth presents it as 'that which is licensed by our best theory of reality'
[O'Grady]
|
4705
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Logical relativism appears if we allow more than one legitimate logical system
[O'Grady]
|
4700
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A third value for truth might be "indeterminate", or a point on a scale between 'true' and 'false'
[O'Grady]
|
4704
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Wittgenstein reduced Russell's five primitive logical symbols to a mere one
[O'Grady]
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4706
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Early Quine says all beliefs could be otherwise, but later he said we would assume mistranslation
[O'Grady]
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4710
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Verificationism was attacked by the deniers of the analytic-synthetic distinction, needed for 'facts'
[O'Grady]
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4711
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Anti-realists say our theories (such as wave-particle duality) give reality incompatible properties
[O'Grady]
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4715
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We may say that objects have intrinsic identity conditions, but still allow multiple accounts of them
[O'Grady]
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4709
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Ontological relativists are anti-realists, who deny that our theories carve nature at the joints
[O'Grady]
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4717
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If we abandon the analytic-synthetic distinction, scepticism about meaning may be inevitable
[O'Grady]
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4720
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Sense-data are only safe from scepticism if they are primitive and unconceptualised
[O'Grady]
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4722
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Modern epistemology centres on debates about foundations, and about external justification
[O'Grady]
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4724
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Internalists say the reasons for belief must be available to the subject, and externalists deny this
[O'Grady]
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4723
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Coherence involves support from explanation and evidence, and also probability and confirmation
[O'Grady]
|
4725
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Contextualism says that knowledge is relative to its context; 'empty' depends on your interests
[O'Grady]
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4719
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Maybe developments in logic and geometry have shown that the a priori may be relative
[O'Grady]
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4727
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The chief problem for fideists is other fideists who hold contrary ideas
[O'Grady]
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4734
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Cryptographers can recognise that something is a language, without translating it
[O'Grady]
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4731
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Good reasoning will avoid contradiction, enhance coherence, not ignore evidence, and maximise evidence
[O'Grady]
|
4732
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One may understand a realm of ideas, but be unable to judge their rationality or truth
[O'Grady]
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4735
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Just as maps must simplify their subject matter, so thought has to be reductionist about reality
[O'Grady]
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