Philosophy Logic Essay Examples
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Davidson on Meaning and Truth
In this essay I will present the view that Davidson's theory of meaning enables us to analyse how we are able to understand language and this sole capacity renders it a far better theory than many contend. In order to argue for this, I will begin, in section one, by describing the basis for Davidson's theory and providing a more detailed account of the questions his theory seeks to answer. In my second section I begin to argue for Davidson's theory by showing, in general terms, how a theory of the sort he advocates is capable of answering these questions. Section three is dedicated to a more detailed account of the semantic theory in question. My final section shows how Davidson's thesis is capable of dealing with more problematic sentences, such as those involving demonstratives and indexicals before concluding that Davidson is successful in providing a theory to accomplish the goals he sets for it.
1. Davidson's undertaking
Davidson's work redefines what constitutes a semantic theory for natural language and what empirical and formal conditions of adequacy these theories must meet. His thesis discourages linguists and philosophers from analysing the concept of meaning itself, but rather to analyse semantics in the context of understanding language in general.[…]
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Russell's Theory of Descriptions
In this essay we will primarily be discussing Bertrand Russell's "Theory of Descriptions". This theory attempts to cope with the problems created by meaningful expressions that refer to unreal things - such as the present king of France. We will be analysing why a specific theory is necessary to cope with this issue. We will explore the nature of Russell's theory before looking at some criticisms with it. We conclude with Russell's direct responses to these criticisms and an assessment of whether his theory or a rival theory best describes our use of language and solves the problems created by it.
1. Why do we need a Theory of Descriptions?
Russell's theory was formulated for the purpose of solving the problems created by sentences such as "The king of France is bald." Such a sentence is obviously not meaningless. In addition to this, it is also a significant sentence - it says something about the king of France. However, there is no king of France. It seems problematic that such a sentence can be significant even when there is nothing that fulfils the description it makes - i.e. nothing fulfils the criteria "The king of France". Russell wished to solve this problem, in part, in order to avoid another solution that had been suggested. This solution is credited to Meinong and takes the following form:[…]
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Possible Worlds
In this essay I will propose modal realism as the correct thesis to utilise in our understanding of modal terms. In order to do this I shall being, in section one by introducing the theory itself. In section two I will argue for the utility and accuracy of this doctrine. In section three I will present some commonly presented objections to modal realism, discounting many of these and accepting one of them. I will then present a popular alternative to modal realism, ersatz modal realism, which seeks to avoid the problems I accepted in section three. In section four I will discount this rival theory on the basis of the additional problems it creates and thus propose that modal realism is the most viable account of modalism even if it comes at a price.
1. Modal Realism
David Lewis is defines the "world" as inclusive in both time and space. That is, the world contains everything that is spatiotemporally related to us - no matter how disconnected we are from these things by time and space. The world may have been very different. I may have begun this essay in a different way to this, or I may have presented a different doctrine in it, or I may never have existed at all, indeed it may have been the case that no person ever existed. Lewis states "There are ever so many ways that a world might be; and one of these many ways is the way that this world is." To talk of ways the world may […]
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Sentences, Statements and Propositions
In this essay we will be seeking to define what we attach meaning to. When we utter a sentence is it the sentence itself that is meaningful, or is there some meaning that the sentence expresses but which is not simply contained in the sentence itself? We will be analysing what it is we assign truth-values to. It is clear that sentences can vary in meaning depending on who utters them, or when they are uttered. We shall be discussing if this means that it cannot be the sentence itself that is true or false, but something behind the sentence - a "proposition". If such things exist I will propose different ways of coming to know them and outlining several epistemic problems with this. We will finally look at whether the notion of a proposition is a necessary one and whether proposing their existence creates more problems than it solves.
1. What is a Proposition?
Those philosophers who believe in the existence of propositions state them to be the meanings of sentences. They are held to be abstract entities with an existence independent of sentences. The function of sentences is to express propositions. As it is the proposition that is the meaning of the sentence it must be the proposition that is either true or false. Because it is the proposition that has a truth-value, when one believes or rejects someone's utterance, one is not rejecting the sentence they form, but rather the proposition that the sentence […]
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The Myth of the Analytic
In this essay we shall be examining the status of that class of statements described as "analytic truths". Analytic statements will be contrasted with synthetic statements as we seek to define the former. I will present the view that analytic statements are meaningless, before going on to propose that there is no real distinction between the two classes of statements. We require a revision in our view of truth to see this. However, such revision requires a lot of prior conceptual engineering and so we will begin by simply defining our terms.
1. Defining the Analytic.
It is generally supposed amongst philosophers that statements can be divided into two clear categories. These are dubbed the analytic and the synthetic - terms first introduced by Kant. Kant writes "In all judgments in which the relation of a subject to the predicate is thought (if I only consider affirmative judgments, since the application to negative ones is easy) this relation is possible in two different ways. Either the predicate B belongs to the subject A as something that is (covertly) contained in this concept A; or B lies entirely outside the concept A, though to be sure it stands in connection with it. In the first case, I call the judgment analytic, in the second synthetic." Intuitive examples of synthetic statements include "Smoking is bad for you" and […]
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