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Single Idea 19164

[from 'The Principles of Mathematics' by Bertrand Russell, in 19. Language / D. Propositions / 3. Concrete Propositions ]

Full Idea

Russell often treated propositions as facts, but discovered that correspondence then became useless for explaining truth, since every meaningful expression, true or false, expresses a proposition.

Gist of Idea

If propositions are facts, then false and true propositions are indistinguishable

Source

comment on Bertrand Russell (The Principles of Mathematics [1903]) by Donald Davidson - Truth and Predication 6

Book Reference

Davidson,Donald: 'Truth and Predication' [Belknap Harvard 2005], p.125


A Reaction

So 'pigs fly' would have to mean pigs actually flying (which they don't). They might correspond to possible situations, but only if pigs might fly. What do you make of 'circles are square'? Russell had many a sleepless night over that.

Related Idea

Idea 6091 Propositions don't name facts, because each fact corresponds to a proposition and its negation [Russell]