Why Truth Matters for the Study of Religion: A Defense of a Truth-Conditional Semantics

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 t...

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Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: Gardiner, Mark Q. 1963- (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
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Publié: Brill [2018]
Dans: Method & theory in the study of religion
Année: 2018, Volume: 30, Numéro: 4/5, Pages: 402-424
Sujets / Chaînes de mots-clés standardisés:B Science des religions / Vérité / Sémantique
Classifications IxTheo:AA Sciences des religions
AB Philosophie de la religion
AG Vie religieuse
Sujets non-standardisés:B Davidson
B Semantics
B Interprétation
B Religion
B Meaning
B Truth
Accès en ligne: Volltext (Resolving-System)
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Description
Résumé: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.
ISSN:1570-0682
Contient:Enthalten in: Method & theory in the study of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15700682-12341426