In common philosophical language, a proposition is the content of an assertion, that is, it is true-or-false and defined by the meaning of a particular piece of language. The proposition is independent of the medium of communication. Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... Image File history File links Information_icon. ... Logic, from Classical Greek λόγος logos (the word), is the study of the principles and criteria of valid inference and demonstration. ... The philosopher Socrates about to take poison hemlock as ordered by the court. ... Linguistics is the scientific study of language, which can be theoretical or applied. ... Look up proposition in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Engineered languages, sometimes called engelangs, are constructed languages devised to test or prove some hypothesis about how languages work or might work. ... The logical assertion is a statement that asserts that a certain premise is true, and is useful for statements in proof. ... A common dictionary definition of truth is agreement with fact or reality.[1] There is no single definition of truth about which the majority of philosophers agree. ... Falsity is a perversion of truth originating in the deceitfulness of one party, and culminating in the damage of another party. ... Look up medium in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Communication allows people to exchange thoughts by one of several methods. ...

Since the definition of "proposition" is such a crucial matter to various topics in philosophy, the nature of propositions is highly controversial. Even the existence of propositions is sometimes called into question and, as a result, the term is widely used, even when the term is not itself explicitly defined and therefore confusion, in regard to "meaning", may arise. The philosopher Socrates about to take poison hemlock as ordered by the court. ... Galunggung in 1982, showing a combination of natural events. ... There is no universally accepted theory of what the word existence means. ... Terminology, in its general sense, simply refers to the usage and study of terms, that is to say words and compound words generally used in specific contexts. ...

Common usage

Different sentences express the same proposition when they both have the same meaning. For example, Snow is white (in English) and Schnee ist weiss (in German) are different sentences, but both say the same thing, namely, that snow is white. Hence they express the same proposition. Two different sentences in the same language may also express the same proposition. For example, Tiny crystals of frozen water precipitation are white is in English, but is said to be the same proposition as snow is white by virtue of the definition of snow.

Historical Usage

Usage in Aristotle

Aristotelian logic identifies a proposition as a sentence which affirms or denies the predicate of a subject. An Aristotelian proposition may take the form All men are mortal or Socrates is a man. Such propositions comprise the atomic elements in Propositional logic. The sentence A and B expresses both proposition A and proposition B. Both treat the proposition as a sentence having the aforementioned form. Such usage is increasingly non-standard, and will not be used henceforth in this article. Aristotelian logic, also known as syllogistic logic, is the particular type of logic created by Aristotle, primarily in his works Prior Analytics and De Interpretatione. ... In linguistics and logic, a predicate is an expression that can be true of something. ... Subject (philosophy) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Propositional logic or sentential logic is the logic of propositions, sentences, or clauses. ...

Usage by the Logical Positivists

Often propositions are related to closed sentences, to distinguish them from what is expressed by an open sentence, or predicate. In this sense, propositions are statements that are either true or false. This conception of a proposition was supported by the philosophical school of logical positivism. In linguistics and logic, a predicate is an expression that can be true of something. ... A common dictionary definition of truth is agreement with fact or reality.[1] There is no single definition of truth about which the majority of philosophers agree. ... Logical positivism is a school of philosophy that combines empiricism—the idea that observational evidence is indispensable for knowledge of the world — with a version of rationalism—the idea that our knowledge includes a component that is not derived from observation. ...

Some philosophers, such as John Searle, hold that other kinds of speech or actions also assert propositions. Yes-no questions are an inquiry into a proposition's truth value. Traffic signs express propositions without using speech or written language. It is also possible to use a declarative sentence to express a proposition without asserting it, as when a teacher asks a student to comment on a quote; the quote is a proposition (that is, it has a meaning) but the teacher is not asserting it. Snow is white expresses the proposition that snow is white without asserting it (i.e. claiming snow is white). John Rogers Searle (born July 31, 1932 in Denver, Colorado) is the Slusser Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley, and is noted for contributions to the philosophy of language, philosophy of mind and consciousness, on the characteristics of socially constructed versus physical realities, and on practical reason. ... A question may be either a linguistic expression used to make a request for information, or else the request itself made by such an expression. ... Unused traffic signs in Austria Most countries post signage, known as traffic signs or road signs, at the side of roads to impart information to road users. ...

Propositions are also spoken of as the content of beliefs and similar intentional attitudes such as desires, preferences, and hopes. For example, "I desire that I have a new car," or "I wonder whether it will snow" (or, whether it is the case that it will snow). Desire, belief, and so on, are thus called propositional attitudes when they take this sort of content. Look up content in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Look up belief in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A propositional attitude is a relational mental state connecting a person to a proposition. ...

Usage in Russell

Bertrand Russell held that propositions were structured entities with objects and properties as constituents. Others have held that a proposition is the set of possible worlds/states of affairs in which it is true. One important difference between these views is that on the Russellian account, two propositions that are true in all the same states of affairs can still be differentiated. For instance, the proposition that two plus two equals four is distinct on a Russellian account from three plus three equals six. If propositions are sets of possible worlds, however, then all mathematical truths are the same set (the set of all possible worlds). Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell OM FRS (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970), was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician and advocate for social reform. ...

Relation to the mind

Propositions are primarily discussed in relation to the mind as they fit into propositional attitudes. Propositional attitudes are simply attitudes characteristic of folk psychology (belief, desire, etc.) that one can take toward a proposition (e.g. 'it is raining', 'snow is white', etc.). In English, propositions usually follow folk psychological attitudes by a "that clause" (e.g. 'Jane believes that it is raining). In philosophy of mind and psychology, mental states are often taken to primarily consist in propositional attitudes. The propositions are usually said to be the mental content of the attitude. For example, if Jane has a mental state of believing that it is raining, her mental content is the proposition 'it is raining'. Furthermore, since such mental states are about something (namely propositions), they are said to be intentional mental states. Philosophical debates surrounding propositions as they relate to propositional attitudes have also recently centered on whether they are internal or external to the agent or whether they are mind-dependent or mind-independent entities (see the entry on internalism and externalism in philosophy of mind). A propositional attitude is a relational mental state connecting a person to a proposition. ... Folk psychology (sometimes called naïve psychology) is the psychological theory implicit in our everyday ascriptions of others actions, and includes concepts such as belief (he thinks that Peter is wise), desire (she wants that piece of cake), fear (Alex is afraid of spiders) and hope (she hopes that he... A Phrenological mapping of the brain. ... Psychology (from Greek: ψυχή, psukhÄ“, spirit, soul; and λόγος, logos, knowledge) is an academic/ applied discipline involving the scientific study of mental processes and behavior. ... Intentionality, originally a concept from scholastic philosophy, was reintroduced in contemporary philosophy by the philosopher and psychologist Franz Brentano in his work Psychologie vom Empirischen Standpunkte. ... Recently internalism and externalism have become part of the standard jargon of philosophical discourse, and have become central to certain important debates. ...

Treatment in logic

As noted above, in Aristotelian logic a proposition is a particular kind of sentence, one which affirms or denies a predicate of a subject. Aristotelian propositions take forms like All men are mortal and Socrates is a man. Aristotelian logic, also known as syllogistic logic, is the particular type of logic created by Aristotle, primarily in his works Prior Analytics and De Interpretatione. ... In linguistics and logic, a predicate is an expression that can be true of something. ... Subject (philosophy) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

Propositions are the elements in the domain of propositional logic. The sentence A and B expresses both proposition A and proposition B. Propositional logic or sentential logic is the logic of propositions, sentences, or clauses. ...

Objections to propositions

A number of philosophers and linguists claim that the notion of a proposition is too vague or not useful. For them, it is just a misleading concept that should be removed from philosophy and semantics. W.V. Quine maintained that the indeterminacy of translation prevented any meaningful discussion of propositions, and that they should be discarded in favor of sentences. The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... W. V. Quine Willard Van Orman Quine (June 25, 1908 - December 25, 2000) was one of the most influential American philosophers and logicians of the 20th century. ...

External links

• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy articles on:
  • Propositions, by Matthew McGrath.
  • Singular Propositions, by Greg Fitch.
  • Structured Propositions, by Jeffrey C. King.