The Correspondence Theory of Truth: An Essay on the Metaphysics of Predication (Cambridge Studies in Philosophy)

Annotation. This work presents a version of the correspondence theory of truth based on Wittgenstein's Tractatus and Russell's theory of truth and discusses related metaphysical issues such as predication, facts, and propositions. Like Russell and one prominent interpretation of the Tractatus, it assumes a realist view of universals and argues that facts as real entities are not needed. It will intrigue teachers and advanced students of philosophy interested in the conception of truth and in the metaphysics related to the correspondence theory of truth. Read more... Abstract: Annotation. This work presents a version of the correspondence theory of truth based on Wittgenstein's Tractatus and Russell's theory of truth and discusses related metaphysical issues such as predication, facts, and propositions. Like Russell and one prominent interpretation of the Tractatus, it assumes a realist view of universals and argues that facts as real entities are not needed. It will intrigue teachers and advanced students of philosophy interested in the conception of truth and in the metaphysics related to the correspondence theory of truth This work presents a version of the correspondence theory of truth based on Wittgenstein's Tractatus and Russell's theory of truth and discusses related metaphysical issues such as predication, facts, and propositions. Like Russell and one prominent interpretation of the Tractatus it assumes a realist view of universals. Part of the aim is to avoid Platonic propositions, and although sympathy with facts is maintained in the early chapters, the book argues that facts as real entities are not needed. It includes discussion of contemporary philosophers such as David Armstrong, William Alston, and Paul Horwich, as well as those who write about propositions and facts, and a number of recent students of Bertrand Russell. It will interest teachers and advanced students of philosophy who are interested in the realistic conception of truth and in issues in metaphysics related to the correspondence theory of truth, and those interested in Russell and the Tractatus. At the beginning of the twentieth century there was a strong tradition of realism about universals that was closely associated with a correspondence approach to truth.