使真者与真理符合论

Truthmaker and the Correspondence Theory of Truth

使真者与真理符合论共享相同的真理直觉,即实在是真理的本体论基础,这使一些学者认为使真者原则是符合论的一个版本。然而,不少使真者的拥趸反对将使真者原则纳入符合论的阵营中,他们提出了两类论证来辩护这一做法:其一,符合关系是对称关系,而使真关系是反对称的;其二,符合论是一种真理论,而使真者原则不能是真理论,否则会犯循环定义的谬误。通过分析这两类论证,可以表明它们不是判定性的,不仅如此,一个恰当的使真者定义能够使使真者原则成为符合论的一个版本。

The fact that truthmaker and the correspondence theory of truth share the same truth intuition, that is, that truths ontological depend on reality, has led some scholars to argue that the truthmaker principle is a version of correspondence theory. However, a number of adherents of truthmaker object to such inclusion, and they present two types of arguments to defend this approach: first, the corresponding relation is symmetric while truthmaking relation is antisymmetric;and secondly, the correspondence theory is a theory of truth while truthmaker principle cannot be a theory of truth without committing the fallacy of circular definition. By analyzing these two types of arguments, it can be shown that they are not decided. Further, by giving a proper definition of truthmaker, the truthmaker principle can be characterized as a version of correspondence theories.