RT Article
T1 Why Truth Matters for the Study of Religion: A Defense of a Truth-Conditional Semantics
JF Method & theory in the study of religion
VO 30
IS 4/5
SP 402
OP 424
A1 Gardiner, Mark Q. 1963-
LA English
PB Brill
YR 2018
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1684993032
AB Truth-conditional semantics holds that the meaning of a linguistic expression is a function of the conditions under which it would be true. This seems to require limiting meaningfulness to linguistic phenomena for which the question of truth or falsity is relevant. Criticisms have been raised that there are vast swatches of meaningful language that are simply not truth-related, with religion representing a particularly rich and prevalent source. I argue that if the concept of truth as used in a truth-conditional semantics is understood in ways other than correspondence to fact, there are suitable reformulations of a truth-conditional semantics that may be appropriate for understanding religion. I further argue that these reformulations offer considerable methodological advantages to the scholar of religion.
K1 Davidson
K1 Interpretation
K1 Meaning
K1 Religion
K1 Semantics
K1 Truth
DO 10.1163/15700682-12341426