Modeling Truth

Philosophia 45 (1):143-161 (2017)
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Abstract

Many in philosophy understand truth in terms of precise semantic values, true propositions. Following Braun and Sider, I say that in this sense almost nothing we say is, literally, true. I take the stand that this account of truth nonetheless constitutes a vitally useful idealization in understanding many features of the structure of language. The Fregean problem discussed by Braun and Sider concerns issues about application of language to the world. In understanding these issues I propose an alternative modeling tool summarized in the idea that inaccuracy of statements can be accommodated by their imprecision. This yields a pragmatist account of truth, but one not subject to the usual counterexamples. The account can also be viewed as an elaborated error theory. The paper addresses some prima facie objections and concludes with implications for how we address certain problems in philosophy.

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Citations of this work

Measurement Accuracy Realism.Paul Teller - 2018 - In The Experimental Side of Modeling,. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. pp. 273-298.
Referential and Perspectival Realism.Paul Teller - 2018 - Spontaneous Generations 9 (1):151-164.
Making worlds with symbols.Paul Teller - 2018 - Synthese 198 (Suppl 21):5015-5036.

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The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.Thomas S. Kuhn - 1962 - Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Edited by Ian Hacking.
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.Thomas Samuel Kuhn - 1962 - Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Edited by Otto Neurath.
True Enough.Catherine Z. Elgin - 2017 - Cambridge: MIT Press.
Scorekeeping in a language game.David Lewis - 1979 - Journal of Philosophical Logic 8 (1):339--359.
Scientific perspectivism.Ronald N. Giere - 2006 - Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

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