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A choice-semantical approach to theoretical truth
Holger Andreas1, Georg Schiemer2
1Department of Philosophy, University of British Columbia, Canada.
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science
|July 31, 2016
Summary
This study introduces a new choice-semantical approach to understanding theoretical truth in science. It demonstrates how this method better reflects our intuitive grasp of scientific statements.
Area of Science:
- Philosophy of Science
- Logic
- Semantics
Background:
- The interpretation of theoretical sentences in scientific discourse is a key challenge in the logic of science.
- Existing semantic analyses may not fully capture the nuances of theoretical terms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present a novel choice-semantical framework for analyzing theoretical truth.
- To develop and investigate the logical systems arising from this framework.
- To compare the inferential strength of different semantic accounts of theoretical truth.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing the epsilon-term definition for theoretical terms.
- Developing two distinct truth-conditional specifications within a choice functional semantics.
- Translating choice-semantical truth definitions into modal definitions.
- Analyzing the inferential properties of the resulting logical systems.
Main Results:
- Two distinct logical systems for theoretical statements were established.
- A translation between choice-semantical and modal truth definitions was provided.
- The choice-semantical truth notion was shown to align better with informal semantic intuitions.
Conclusions:
- The proposed choice-semantical account offers a robust method for analyzing theoretical truth.
- This framework enhances our understanding of the semantics of scientific language.
- The developed logical systems provide tools for rigorous analysis of scientific inference.
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