Deflationism, explanation and “because”

Veröffentlichungen: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftArtikelPeer Reviewed

Abstract

Two influential objections to deflationism about truth question its ability to explain the role of true beliefs in successful actions; and to account for general compositional principles linking truth to complex sentences governed by truth-functional connectives. In this paper, I address recent formulations of these objections by Will Gamester and Richard Heck. My responses draw on recent work on explanation, grounding, and the logic of “because”. However, each response leaves a residual concern for deflationists that these strategies alone cannot fully resolve. In the final section, I propose a view I call "Aristotelian Deflationism," which incorporates specific “because” principles relating to truth as an alternative to standard instances of the T-schema. While not deflationist in the strictest sense, I argue that this approach offers compelling ways to address both the primary objections and the residual concerns effectively.

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Seiten (von - bis)2215-2242
Seitenumfang28
FachzeitschriftPhilosophical Studies
Jahrgang182
Ausgabenummer8
DOIs
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - Aug. 2025

Fördermittel

I thank two anonymous referees of this journal and Benjamin Schnieder for very helpful feedback and discussion. This research was funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) under Grant P 36713-G for the project ‘Truth is Grounded in Facts.’ I gratefully acknowledge their financial support.

ÖFOS 2012

  • 603120 Sprachphilosophie
  • 603109 Logik

Zitationsweisen