Conventionalism

Any theory appealing to convention to explain something which is not obviously of conventional origin (as, for example, the symbols chosen for some purpose are). Among older writers, conventionalism is associated especially with Jules Henri Poincare (1854-1912) and Pierre-Maurice Duhem (1861-1916); and among modern ones with Willard Van Orman Quine (1908-2000). In logic and mathematics conventionalism says that a priori

6 Comments

Convention t

Also called Criterion T. A device due to Polish logician Alfred Tarski (1901-1983) and originally used in defining truth for a formal language, but later used (by American philosopher Donald Davidson (1930-2003)) to give an account of meaning in terms of truth. The details are complex, but roughly: consider the sentence ‘La neige est blanche’ is true

2 Comments

Correspondence theory of truth

The strictest form of the theory defines truth as a structural correspondence between what is true (a belief, judgment, proposition, sentence, and so on) and what makes it true (an event, fact, state of affairs, and so on). Because of difficulties in defining such a relation (difficulties also facing the PICTURE THEORY OF MEANING),

1 Comments

Counterpart theory

Term used in connection with the modal realis tanalysis of necessity, possibility, and counterfactual conditional statements (those where the antecedent is presented as being false). Consider ‘If Hitler had invaded England he would have won.’ Assuming his invasion was a possibility, there will be possible worlds in which he does, and in some of these

6 Comments

Covering law model

A model of explanation associated especially with German logician Carl Gustav Hempel (1905-1997), who regarded it as adequate for all types of explanation. Basically a statement is explained if it is derived from a set of laws together with certain factual statements, as we might explain ‘Fido barks’ by saying ‘All dogs bark and

1 Comments

Craig’s theorem (1953)

Proof concerning the formal description of scientific theories, expounded by William Craig. According to Craig, a formal expression of a scientific theory is divisible into ‘theoretical’ and ‘observational’ vocabularies, and (since the ‘observational’ terms are all deducible) it follows that a description can be produced that consists only of ‘observational’ terms and in which

1 Comments

Creative evolution

The theory which French philosopher Henri Bergson (1859-1941) substituted for the Darwinian mechanism of his day. Bergson’s theory mediated between the mechanism of natural selection and an outright teleological view, appealing to an dan vital (‘vital impetus’) which guided evolution in a certain direction; not in what he saw as the mechanistic non-explanatory fashion of current

4 Comments

Critical realism

Name introduced by American philosopher Roy Wood Sellars (1880-1973) in Critical Realism (1916) for his attempt to mediate between direct realism and idealism by saying that the objects of perception are neither objects themselves nor ideas arid so on in the mind but sets of properties of these objects. Source: D Drake et al., eds, Essays in Critical

3 Comments

Cynicism

Philosophy of the movement started by Diogenes of Sinope (4th century BC) and possibly influenced by Antisthenes, a contemporary and disciple of Socrates (469-399 BC). The movement lasted intermittently for some 800 years or more, flourishing mainly in its first two centuries and again under the early Roman Empire (first two centuries AD). The Cynics were akin to and

3 Comments

Deduction theorem

Let ‘P’ and ‘Q’ stand for (simple or compound) propositions. The deduction theorem says that: if Q can be logically inferred from P, then ‘If P then Q’ can be proved as a theorem in the logical system in question. This gives a method for dispensing with rules of inference in favor of axioms

1 Comments

Deductivism

Name sometimes applied to the claim, especially associated with Austrian philosopher Karl Raimund Popper (1902-1994), that since induction is logically invalid, science should dispense with it in favor of deduction. Also see: inductivism, falsificationism, hypothetico-deductive method, Vienna circle Source: L Carrol; What the Tortoise Said to

2 Comments

De facto and de jure theories of meaning

A distinction associated with use theories of meaning. De facto theories give the meaning of a word in terms of how it is actually used; de jure theories give it in terms of how it should be used, or of rules for its use, claiming that actual usage may be incorrect. Source: L J Cohen,

2 Comments

Degrees of truth

There are two main sources of the idea that truth has degrees. One is objective idealism, as explained under coherence theory of truth. The other arises because many predicates are essentially vague. When does a heap of sand become large? It seems plausible that a 100-grain heap is not large, and that a heap which

1 Comments

Deism (18TH CENTURY)

The doctrine that belief in a passive creator-God is entirely consistent with reason, without recourse to established religion or the supernatural. In its 18th-century heyday, deism was particularly associated with such philosophical writers as Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire (1694-1778) and Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) (although similar thoughts had been expressed by other thinkers in earlier centuries). In

2 Comments

Denotation and connotation (1843)

Distinction drawn by the English philosopher John Stuart Mill (1806-1873). A word denotes the class of entities to which it may be used to refer; it connotes the qualities usually associated with those entities. See also the non-equivalent distinction sense and reference. Source: J Lyons, Semantics (Cambridge, 1977) ch. 7 Connotation Jump to navigationJump to search For

5 Comments

Deontology

Strictly, the study of duty, but in practice a particular view that duty is the primary moral notion, and that at least some of our duties (for example, keeping promises) do not depend on any value that may result from fulfilling them. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) is probably the most famous deontologist. Also see: categorical imperative. Consequentialists

2 Comments

Theory of descriptions

Theory invented by English philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) in 1905 to show how denoting phrases like ‘the present king of France’ could still have meaning though there is nothing for them to denote. Russell claimed that the grammatical form of ‘The present king of France is bald’ is misleading as to its logical form,

1 Comments

Descriptivism

Any theory claiming that certain utterances have meaning by describing (or purporting to describe) some aspect of reality rather than in various other ways (for example, prescriptivism and emotivism). In practice the term is confined to ethical utterances. ‘Lying is wrong’ and ‘You ought not to lie’ both purport to state moral facts, though descriptivism leaves it

3 Comments

Determinism

The general course of events is determined by structures deemed to be fundamental. These may be the economic system, the system of religious belief, the state of technology, and so on. Determinism is normally attributed to thinkers in a critical spirit, rather than claimed by them to describe their own views. Not the same

1 Comments

Dialectic

A term with various meanings for different philosophers, notably Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Hegel, and Karl Marx. For the ancients, dialectic was largely a matter of philosophical method. As embodying a theory about reality the term belongs primarily to Hegel, who thought that both reality itself and our thought about it (which were ultimately the same thing)

1 Comments