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Single Idea 6342

[filed under theme 3. Truth / C. Correspondence Truth / 1. Correspondence Truth ]

Full Idea

One correspondence theory (e.g. early Wittgenstein) concerns representations and facts; alternatively (Tarski, Davidson) the category of fact is eschewed, and the truth of sentences or propositions is built out of relations of reference and satisfaction.

Gist of Idea

Some correspondence theories concern facts; others are built up through reference and satisfaction

Source

Paul Horwich (Truth (2nd edn) [1990], Ch.7.35)

Book Ref

Horwich,Paul: 'Truth (2nd edn)' [OUP 1998], p.104


A Reaction

A helpful distinction. Clearly the notion of a 'fact' is an elusive one ("how many facts are there in this room?"), so it seems quite promising to say that the parts of the sentence correspond, rather than the whole thing.

Related Idea

Idea 17740 Instead of correspondence of proposition to fact, look at correspondence of its parts [Jenkins]


The 12 ideas from 'Truth (2nd edn)'

Horwich's deflationary view is novel, because it relies on propositions rather than sentences [Horwich, by Davidson]
The common-sense theory of correspondence has never been worked out satisfactorily [Horwich]
No deflationary conception of truth does justice to the fact that we aim for truth [Horwich]
The deflationary picture says believing a theory true is a trivial step after believing the theory [Horwich]
The function of the truth predicate? Understanding 'true'? Meaning of 'true'? The concept of truth? A theory of truth? [Horwich]
The redundancy theory cannot explain inferences from 'what x said is true' and 'x said p', to p [Horwich]
We could know the truth-conditions of a foreign sentence without knowing its meaning [Horwich]
Logical form is the aspects of meaning that determine logical entailments [Horwich]
There are Fregean de dicto propositions, and Russellian de re propositions, or a mixture [Horwich]
Right translation is a mapping of languages which preserves basic patterns of usage [Horwich]
Some correspondence theories concern facts; others are built up through reference and satisfaction [Horwich]
Truth is a useful concept for unarticulated propositions and generalisations about them [Horwich]