RE: Is the self all that can be known to exist?
November 18, 2016 at 5:40 pm
(This post was last modified: November 18, 2016 at 5:45 pm by Edwardo Piet.)
(November 17, 2016 at 11:47 pm)Jörmungandr Wrote: "This statement is false." and "This statement is not true." are not equivalent statements.
They are. The definition of "false" is "not true".
Quote: The first may simply be neither false nor true, which is what you've been arguing, that the meaning is indeterminate.
No. I'm saying something is either true or it isn't.
Quote: The latter statement, known as the strengthened liar is true even if the statement is incomplete, unless you are now arguing that incomplete statements have determinate meaning and are thus "true" which is opposite of everything you've claimed.
I'm saying that when you look at "this statement is not true" you're looking at an incomplete statement because "not true" adds nothing to "this statement is". "It is not true that I am happy" is equivalent to "I am not happy" but "this statement is not true" therefore would be equivalent to "this statement is not" which is an incomplete statement, unlike "I am not happy".
We are starting at an incomplete statement that says that it isn't true, and then we're looking at the truth that it isn't what it claims to be. We think we see a contradiction between truth and falsehood because the statement is telling the truth about being false.... but that's not a contradiction because "not true" just means "it's true that it's not the case". The truth is what represents reality, and that's all there is. Falsehood/non-truth is a concept regarding that which does not represent reality.... but that's just how we conceptualize our own mistakes regarding what doesn't fit with reality. Ultimately all there is is what corresponds to reality: truth. It's like how when we say something is "illogical" we are referring to something someone has said that is logically contradictory. They can say things that contradict reality, but reality itself can't be contradictory. "Illogical" is a funny word really because it means logically contradictory.
Quote: If the latter statement is incomplete, then it's definitely "not true" despite your assertion of a deflationary theory of truth.
Neither "this statement is true" nor "this statement is not true" are complete because a statement has to have meaning before "true" or "not true" are added. "this statement is" can be true or not true? No.
