more on this theme     |     more from this thinker     |     more from this text


Single Idea 19157

[filed under theme 19. Language / D. Propositions / 5. Unity of Propositions ]

Full Idea

Moore and Russell reacted strongly against the idea that the unity of the proposition depended on human acts of judgement. ...Russell decided that unless the unity is explained in terms of the proposition itself, there can be no objective truth.

Gist of Idea

Russell said the proposition must explain its own unity - or else objective truth is impossible

Source

report of Bertrand Russell (The Principles of Mathematics [1903], p.42) by Donald Davidson - Truth and Predication 5

Book Ref

Davidson,Donald: 'Truth and Predication' [Belknap Harvard 2005], p.100


A Reaction

Put like this, the Russellian view strikes me as false. Effectively he is saying that a unified proposition is the same as a fact. I take a proposition to be a brain event, best labelled by Frege as a 'thought'. Thoughts may not even have parts.