Truthmaker realism

Australasian Journal of Philosophy 77 (3):274 – 291 (1999)
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Abstract

We take as our starting point a thesis to the effect that, at least for true judgments of many varieties, there are parts of reality which make such judgments are true. We argue that two distinct components are involved in this truthmaker relation. On the one hand is the relation of necessitation, which holds between an object x and a judgment p when the existence of x entails the truth of p. On the other hand is the dual notion of projection, which holds between a judgment p and an object x when the truth of p entails the existence of x. A truthmaker for a judgment p is then a necessitator for p which satisfies the further constraint that it is part of p’s projection. We offer a formal theory of the truthmaker relation thus defined, exploiting ontological tools of basic mereology and the theory of dependence. We then apply the theory to a range of problems connected with generic expressions, ellipsis, vagueness, and indexical and perceptual judgments

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Barry Smith
University at Buffalo

Citations of this work

Truthmaker commitments.Jonathan Schaffer - 2008 - Philosophical Studies 141 (1):7-19.
Fiat objects.Barry Smith - 2001 - Topoi 20 (2):131-148.
A Theory of Granular Partitions.Thomas Bittner & Barry Smith - 2003 - In Matt Duckham, Michael F. Goodchild & Michael Worboys (eds.), Foundations of Geographic Information Science. London: Taylor & Francis. pp. 117-151.
The correspondence theory of truth.Marian David - 2008 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

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References found in this work

A World of States of Affairs.D. M. Armstrong - 1996 - New York: Cambridge University Press.
Parts: A Study in Ontology.Peter M. Simons - 1987 - Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
Parts : a Study in Ontology.Peter Simons - 1987 - Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale 2:277-279.
Truth-Makers.Kevin Mulligan, Peter Simons & Barry Smith - 1984 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 44 (3):287-321.

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