Cambridge Scholars Publishing On Being True or False: Sentences, Propositions and What is Said

The central issue of this book is not ‘What is true?’ or ‘What is truth?’, but ‘What sort of thing is true (or false)?’ This question has had several answers over the centuries, but, as argued here, all the main ones are mistaken. It is not pieces of language (sentences), events in the mind (beliefs), nor transcendent objects (propositions) that are either true or false. Rather, the chief truth-bearer is what someone says (or writes). Being true or false is rooted in human talk. The book argues that the other candidates must either be rejected or understood differently from traditional interpretations. Along the way, a large number of topics not usually considered in philosophical writings are touched upon―and there is a significant criticism of what theoretical linguistics has to say on the issues. No other book has attempted such a broad examination of the topic. About the Author Merrill Ring has now retired as a Professor of Philosophy after 45 years, his most recent position being at California State University, Fullerton. He has written and published (and continues to do so) on a wide variety of philosophical topics, such as central historical philosophers (including Socrates, Aristotle, and Descartes) and Wittgenstein; on major epistemological issues like the relation of knowledge to infallibility and the nature of belief; and on the meaning of ‘good’. He is also the author of a book on Pre-Socratic philosophy, titled Beginning with the Pre-Socratics. His most recent publication is “Wittgenstein on Essence” (2019).