Combining Texts

All the ideas for 'Subjectivist's Guide to Objective Chance', 'What do powers do when they are not manifested?' and 'The Correspondence Theory of Truth'

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10 ideas

3. Truth / A. Truth Problems / 5. Truth Bearers
Must sentences make statements to qualify for truth? [O'Connor]
     Full Idea: Maybe a sentence is not a candidate for truth until it is used to make a statement.
     From: D.J. O'Connor (The Correspondence Theory of Truth [1975], Ch.6)
3. Truth / C. Correspondence Truth / 1. Correspondence Truth
Beliefs must match facts, but also words must match beliefs [O'Connor]
     Full Idea: Our beliefs must claim a correspondence with facts, and then the verbal expression of the belief must correspond to the belief itself.
     From: D.J. O'Connor (The Correspondence Theory of Truth [1975], Ch.4)
3. Truth / F. Semantic Truth / 2. Semantic Truth
The semantic theory requires sentences as truth-bearers, not propositions [O'Connor]
     Full Idea: The Semantic Theory of truth requires that sentences are truth-bearers (rather than statements, or propositions).
     From: D.J. O'Connor (The Correspondence Theory of Truth [1975], Ch.6)
What does 'true in English' mean? [O'Connor]
     Full Idea: We do not seem to have any use in ordinary discourse for phrases like 'true in English', 'false in German'.
     From: D.J. O'Connor (The Correspondence Theory of Truth [1975], II.1)
5. Theory of Logic / A. Overview of Logic / 4. Pure Logic
Logic seems to work for unasserted sentences [O'Connor]
     Full Idea: If sentences can have truth-values only when they occur as asserted, it would be impossible to have a truth-functional basis to logic.
     From: D.J. O'Connor (The Correspondence Theory of Truth [1975], Ch.6)
7. Existence / B. Change in Existence / 4. Events / c. Reduction of events
Events are fast changes which are of interest to us [O'Connor]
     Full Idea: The standard cases of events are physical changes which happen sufficiently fast to be observed as changes, and which are of sufficient interest to us to be noticed or commented on.
     From: D.J. O'Connor (The Correspondence Theory of Truth [1975], Ch.7)
8. Modes of Existence / C. Powers and Dispositions / 2. Powers as Basic
Powers are claimed to be basic because fundamental particles lack internal structure [Psillos]
     Full Idea: The argument for fundamental powers is that fundamental particles are simple, without internal structure. Hence they have no parts which can be the bearers of further properties (powers or non-powers) which in turn ground the properties of the particles.
     From: Stathis Psillos (What do powers do when they are not manifested? [2006], p.151), quoted by Anna Marmodoro - Do powers need powers to make them powerful? 'The Problem'
     A reaction: If a power is basic, what has the power? I think the best answer is that at the fundamental level this is a false dichotomy. If you could zoom in, you would say that basic substance is active in a way that everyday stuff doesn't appear to be.
11. Knowledge Aims / A. Knowledge / 4. Belief / a. Beliefs
We can't contemplate our beliefs until we have expressed them [O'Connor]
     Full Idea: It is only when beliefs are given some symbolic expression that they acquire the precision and stability that enables us to entertain them.
     From: D.J. O'Connor (The Correspondence Theory of Truth [1975], Ch.5)
Without language our beliefs are particular and present [O'Connor]
     Full Idea: Without language we would be restricted to particular beliefs about the here and now.
     From: D.J. O'Connor (The Correspondence Theory of Truth [1975], Ch.8)
26. Natural Theory / D. Laws of Nature / 4. Regularities / b. Best system theory
Lewis later proposed the axioms at the intersection of the best theories (which may be few) [Mumford on Lewis]
     Full Idea: Later Lewis said we must choose between the intersection of the axioms of the tied best systems. He chose for laws the axioms that are in all the tied systems (but then there may be few or no axioms in the intersection).
     From: comment on David Lewis (Subjectivist's Guide to Objective Chance [1980], p.124) by Stephen Mumford - Laws in Nature