Tarski's truth definition
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Definition
Tarski's truth definition is a definition which formalizes the relation between a sentence and its truth value. The definition formalizes what Wittgenstein (1922) describes as:
to understand a proposition means to know what is the case if it is true.
It has the following general form:
(i) For any S in L and any v, S is true in v if and only if p.
S is a structural description of a sentence of a language L, v is a circumstance which has to be met, and p are the conditions that describe how this circumstance should be met.
Example
The definition for sentence S in (i) has (partly) the form of (ii).
(ii) Snow is white is true iff Snow is white
Tarski's truth definition is crucial to a denotational meaning theory.
Links
References
- Gamut, L.T.F. 1991. Logic, language, and meaning, Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago.
- Tarski, A. 1944. The Semantic Conception of Truth, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 4, 341-375
STUB |
CAT | This article needs proper categorization. You can help Glottopedia by categorizing it Please do not remove this block until the problem is fixed. |