Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 17, 2026

Exploring the Role of Deontic Reasoning and World Knowledge in Wason´s Selection Task
Published on: July 22, 2025
A choice-semantical approach to theoretical truth
Holger Andreas1, Georg Schiemer2
1Department of Philosophy, University of British Columbia, Canada.
Abstract:
A central topic in the logic of science concerns the proper semantic analysis of theoretical sentences, that is sentences containing theoretical terms. In this paper, we present a novel choice-semantical account of theoretical truth based on the epsilon-term definition of theoretical terms. Specifically, we develop two ways of specifying the truth conditions of theoretical statements in a choice functional semantics, each giving rise to a corresponding logic of such statements. In order to investigate the inferential strength of these logical systems, we provide a translation of each truth definition into a modal definition of theoretical truth. Based on this, we show that the stronger notion of choice-semantical truth captures more adequately our informal semantic understanding of scientific statements.
Related Concept Videos
Cognitivism
Previously dominated by behaviorism, which prioritized observable behaviors and largely ignored mental processes, psychology transformed in the 1950s. Cognitive psychologists argue that understanding how we think and process...
Language and Cognition
The Scientific Method
The Scientific Method
Generally, predictions are tested using carefully-designed experiments. Based on the outcome of these...
Structuralism
Titchener's approach to structuralism was unique. He...
Reason and Intuition

