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Full Idea
Whereas the true statement [that there is a man] is in no way the cause of the actual thing's existence, the actual thing does seem in some way the cause of the statement's being true.
Gist of Idea
A true existence statement has its truth caused by the existence of the thing
Source
Aristotle (Categories [c.331 BCE], 14b18)
Book Ref
Aristotle: 'Categories and De Interpretatione', ed/tr. Ackrill,J.R. [OUP 1963], p.40
A Reaction
Armstrong offers this as the earliest statement of the truthmaker principle. Notice the cautious qualification 'seem in some way'. The truthmaker dependence seems even clearer in falsemaking, where the death of the man falsifies the statement.
Related Idea
Idea 18366 Of interdependent things, the prior one causes the other's existence [Aristotle]
| 18367 | A true existence statement has its truth caused by the existence of the thing [Aristotle] |
| 15134 | The truthmaker principle requires some specific named thing to make the difference [Williamson] |
| 18355 | What matters is truth-making (not truth-makers) [David] |
| 15012 | Orthodox truthmaker theories make entities fundamental, but that is poor for explanation [Sider] |
| 14395 | If a ball changes from red to white, Truthmaker says some thing must make the change true [Merricks] |
| 14398 | Truthmaker says if an entity is removed, some nonexistence truthmaker must replace it [Merricks] |
| 14403 | If Truthmaker says each truth is made by the existence of something, the theory had de re modality at is core [Merricks] |
| 13247 | A truthmaker is an object which entails a sentence [Beall/Restall] |