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Single Idea 18829

[from 'The Boundary Stones of Thought' by Ian Rumfitt, in 19. Language / F. Communication / 3. Denial ]

Full Idea

The truth-grounds of '¬A' are precisely those possibilities that are incompatible with any truth-ground of A.

Gist of Idea

The truth grounds for 'not A' are the possibilities incompatible with truth grounds for A

Source

Ian Rumfitt (The Boundary Stones of Thought [2015], 7.1)

Book Reference

Rumfitt,Ian: 'The Boundary Stones of Thought' [OUP 2015], p.185


A Reaction

This is Rumfitt's proposal for the semantics of 'not', based on the central idea of a possibility, rather than a possible world. The incompatibility tracks back to an absence of shared grounding.

Related Idea

Idea 18828 If two possibilities can't share a determiner, they are incompatible [Rumfitt]