Title
A choice-semantical approach to theoretical truth
Author
Holger Andreas
University of British Columbia
Abstract
A central topic in the logic of science concerns the proper semantic analysis of theoretical sentences, that is sentences containing theoretical terms. In this paper, we present a novel choice-semantical account of theoretical truth based on the epsilon-term definition of theoretical terms. Specifically, we develop two ways of specifying the truth conditions of theoretical statements in a choice functional semantics, each giving rise to a corresponding logic of such statements. In order to investigate the inferential strength of these logical systems, we provide a translation of each truth definition into a modal definition of theoretical truth. Based on this, we show that the stronger notion of choice-semantical truth captures more adequately our informal semantic understanding of scientific statements.
Object type
Language
English [eng]
Persistent identifier
https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:627958
Appeared in
Title
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A
Volume
58
From page
1
To page
23
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Version type
Date created
2016
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