Theories of Truth: A Critical Introduction [Paperback]

Richard L. Kirkham (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0262611082 | ISBN-13: 978-0262611084 | Publication Date: March 2, 1995

Theories of Truth provides a clear, critical introduction to one of the most difficult areas of philosophy. It surveys all of the major philosophical theories of truth, presenting the crux of the issues involved at a level accessible to nonexperts yet in a manner sufficiently detailed and original to be of value to professional scholars. Kirkham's systematic treatment and meticulous explanations of terminology ensure that readers will come away from this book with a comprehensive general understanding of one of philosophy's thorniest set of topics.Included are discussions of the correspondence, coherence, pragmatic, semantic, performative, redundancy, appraisal, and truth-as-justification theories. There are also chapters or sections of chapters on the liar paradox, three-valued logic, Field's critique of Tarski, Davidson's program, Dummett's theory of linguistic competence, satisfaction, recursion, the extension/intension distinction, and an explanation of how theories of justification, properly understood, differ from theories of truth.A persistent theme is that philosophers have too often failed to recognize that not all theories of truth are intended to answer the same question. When the various questions are made distinct, it is apparent that many of the "debates" in this field are really cases of philosophers talking past one another. There is much less disagreement within the field than has commonly been thought.Richard L. Kirkham is Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oklahoma.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Kirkham's book is a superb introduction to the metaphysics and semantics of truth. Kirkham also makes a important original contribution to the subject by insisting that we keep track of the purposes to which a theory of truth is to be put. This is one introductory book that will be of as much interest to specialists as to beginning students." Frederick F. Schmitt , Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Product Details

• Paperback: 415 pages
• Publisher: A Bradford Book (March 2, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262611082
• ISBN-13: 978-0262611084
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #437,418 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely clear intro to a difficult topic, January 12, 2000

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random reviewer (boston, ma) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Theories of Truth: A Critical Introduction (Paperback)

I came across a copy of this book at a used books store. I didn't know anything about it, but since I'm interested in theories of truth, I bought it and it far surpassed my expectations.

The author is an excellent writer and is very good at explaining rather difficult topics. He also does an excellent job of distinguishing all the different issues that are often conflated in discussions about truth.

The book includes very good discussions of the theories of Russell, Dummett, Davidson, Tarski, and Kripke among others. The only criticism I can make of the book is that the author's sympathies for correspondence theories are a little obvious. That is not to say that he is dismissive of non-correspondence theories nor that he is uncritical of correspondence theorists. His arguments against his opponents are quite strong, and he is very upfront about acknowledging the difficulties facing correspondence theories. I mention this criticism only because the book is supposed to be an introduction but is more of an opinionated introduction.

Overall, this is a excellent book. I would reccomend it to anyone with an interest in the topic. Some philosophical background is helpful, but not necessary.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best intro to theories of truth, February 11, 2003

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Randall Helzerman (campbell, ca) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Theories of Truth: A Critical Introduction (Paperback)

By far the best introduction to theories of truth. The author has a preternatural gift for exposition. Even the twistiest corners of truth-theorizing are explained clearly without being oversimplified.

He comes down a little hard on James and the pragmatic theory of truth, but having opinions is a good thing, not a bad thing. Of particular interest is his chapters on the Liar paradox--an almost unbelievably lucid explication. Follow up with Scott Soames book on truth, and you'll be well on your way.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent intro, November 7, 2009

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Edward Mariyani-Squire (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Theories of Truth: A Critical Introduction (Paperback)

This is an excellent introduction to the various theories of truth.

The first two chapters ("Projects of Theories of Truth" & "Justification and Truth Bearers") are excellent intros in themselves, esp. with respect to epistemological concerns. Here are the chapters that follow:
3 Nonrealist Theories
4 The Correspondence Theory
5 Alfred Tarski's Semantic Theory
6 Objections to Tarski's Theory
7 The Justification Project
8 Davidson and Dummett
9 The Liar Paradox
10 The Speech-Act Project and the Deflationary Thesis

The theories are discussed in terms of analytical philosophy. The limit this imposes is that it has little to explicitly say about how some Continental philosophers have thought about truth (e.g. "On the Problem of Truth" in Between Philosophy and Social Science: Selected Early Writings (Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought), "Truth and Power" in Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings, 1972-1977), although much (not all) Continental thinking on truth could, from the analytical perspective, be 'translated' into terms fitting into chapter 3.