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Single Idea 9107

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

Full Idea

If in the proposition 'This is an angel' subject and predicate stand for the same thing, the proposition is true.

Gist of Idea

A proposition is true if its subject and predicate stand for the same thing

Source

William of Ockham (Summa totius logicae [1323], II.c.ii)

Book Ref

Ockham,William of: 'Ockham's Philosophical Writings', ed/tr. Boehner,P [Hackett 1990], p.76


A Reaction

An interesting statement of what looks like a correspondence theory, employing the idea that both the subject and the predicate have a reference. I think Frege would say that 'x is an angel' is unsaturated, and so lacks reference.


The 9 ideas from 'Summa totius logicae'

Ockham had an early axiomatic account of truth [William of Ockham, by Halbach]
Universals are single things, and only universal in what they signify [William of Ockham]
Some concepts for propositions exist only in the mind, and in no language [William of Ockham]
The word 'every' only signifies when added to a term such as 'man', referring to all men [William of Ockham]
Just as unity is not a property of a single thing, so numbers are not properties of many things [William of Ockham]
A proposition is true if its subject and predicate stand for the same thing [William of Ockham]
If essence and existence were two things, one could exist without the other, which is impossible [William of Ockham]
The words 'thing' and 'to be' assert the same idea, as a noun and as a verb [William of Ockham]
From an impossibility anything follows [William of Ockham]