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Ideas for 'fragments/reports', 'The Boundary Stones of Thought' and 'Modern Philosophy:introduction and survey'

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2 ideas

19. Language / F. Communication / 3. Denial
The truth grounds for 'not A' are the possibilities incompatible with truth grounds for A [Rumfitt]
     Full Idea: The truth-grounds of '¬A' are precisely those possibilities that are incompatible with any truth-ground of A.
     From: Ian Rumfitt (The Boundary Stones of Thought [2015], 7.1)
     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.
19. Language / F. Communication / 4. Private Language
Wittgenstein makes it impossible to build foundations from something that is totally private [Scruton]
     Full Idea: Wittgenstein's point is that if I search for foundations in what can only be known to me, then the belief that I have discovered those foundations will also fall victim to Descartes' demon.
     From: Roger Scruton (Modern Philosophy:introduction and survey [1994], 5.3)
     A reaction: Why should foundations based in wider society or a language community fare any better? Getting a lot of people to agree won't trouble the demon too much. Flat earthers.