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Single Idea 4752

[filed under theme 5. Theory of Logic / D. Assumptions for Logic / 1. Bivalence ]

Full Idea

It is said that deflationism cannot even formulate the principle of bivalence, for 'either p is true or p is false' will amount to the principle of excluded middle, 'either p or not-p'.

Gist of Idea

Deflationism must reduce bivalence ('p is true or false') to excluded middle ('p or not-p')

Source

Pascal Engel (Truth [2002], §2.4)

Book Ref

Engel,Pascal: 'Truth' [Acumen 2002], p.53

A Reaction

Presumably deflationists don't lost any sleep over this - in fact, it looks like a good concise way to state the deflationist thesis. However, excluded middle refers to a proposition (not-p) that was never mentioned by bivalence. Cf Idea 6163.

Related Idea

Idea 6163 If bivalence is rejected, then excluded middle must also be rejected [Rowlands]

The 18 ideas with the same theme [propositions can only be true or false]:

21593 In talking of future sea-fights, Aristotle rejects bivalence [Aristotle, by Williamson]
22154 For Aristotle bivalence is a feature of reality [Aristotle, by Boulter]
21677 How can the not-true fail to be false, or the not-false fail to be true? [Cicero]
19102 Bivalence is a regulative assumption of enquiry - not a law of logic [Peirce, by Misak]
19043 Bivalence applies not just to sentences, but that general terms are true or false of each object [Quine]
8173 Language can violate bivalence because of non-referring terms or ill-defined predicates [Dummett]
8195 Undecidable statements result from quantifying over infinites, subjunctive conditionals, and the past tense [Dummett]
6889 Vagueness seems to be inconsistent with the view that every proposition is true or false [Mautner]
21606 'Bivalence' is the meta-linguistic principle that 'A' in the object language is true or false [Williamson]
18780 Standard disjunction and negation force us to accept the principle of bivalence [Mares]
18786 Excluded middle standardly implies bivalence; attacks use non-contradiction, De M 3, or double negation [Mares]
4700 A third value for truth might be "indeterminate", or a point on a scale between 'true' and 'false' [O'Grady]
4752 Deflationism must reduce bivalence ('p is true or false') to excluded middle ('p or not-p') [Engel]
9119 No attempt to deny bivalence has ever been accepted [Sorensen]
6163 If bivalence is rejected, then excluded middle must also be rejected [Rowlands]
4638 The principle of bivalence distorts reality, as when claiming that a person is or is not 'thin' [Baggini /Fosl]
23484 Bipolarity adds to Bivalence the capacity for both truth values [Morris,M]
18840 When faced with vague statements, Bivalence is not a compelling principle [Rumfitt]