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Ideas for 'Parmenides', 'Bayesianism' and 'Logical Properties'

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2 ideas

3. Truth / H. Deflationary Truth / 3. Minimalist Truth
Truth is the property of propositions that makes it possible to deduce facts [McGinn]
     Full Idea: Truth is a property of a proposition from which one can deduce the fact stated by the proposition.
     From: Colin McGinn (Logical Properties [2000], Ch.5)
     A reaction: This is McGinn's explanation of the disquotational account of truth ('p' is true iff p). The redundancy theorist would reply that you can deduce p from 'p' without mentioning truth, but it remains to ask why this deduction is possible.
Without the disquotation device for truth, you could never form beliefs from others' testimony [McGinn]
     Full Idea: Imagine being in a community which had no concept of truth; ..you cannot disquote on p and hence form beliefs about the world as a result of testimony, since you lack the device of disquotation that is the essence of truth.
     From: Colin McGinn (Logical Properties [2000], Ch.5)
     A reaction: Whether his theory is right or not, the observation that testimony is the really crucial area where we must have a notion of truth is very good. How about 'truth is what turns propositions into beliefs'?