Truth

by Chase Wrenn

Overview

What is truth? Is there anything that all truths have in common that makes them true rather than false? Is truth independent of human thought, or does it depend in some way on what we believe or what we would be justified in believing? In what sense, if any, is it better for beliefs or statements to be true than to be false?

In this engaging and accessible new introduction Chase Wrenn surveys a variety of theories of the nature of truth and evaluates their philosophical costs and benefits. Paying particular attention to how the theories accommodate realist intuitions and make sense of truth’s value, he discusses a full range of theories from classical correspondence to relatively new deflationary and pluralist accounts. The book provides a clear, non-technical entry point to contemporary debates about truth for non-specialists. Specialists will also find new contributions to those debates, including a new argument for the superiority of deflationism to causal correspondence and pluralist theories.

Drawing on a range of traditional and contemporary debates, this book will be of interest to students and scholars alike and anyone interested in the nature and value of truth.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780745663234
Publisher:	Polity Press
Publication date:	12/22/2014
Series:	Key Concepts in Philosophy
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Chase Wrenn has been in the faculty of the University of Alabama Department of Philosophy since 2001. His research focuses on the nature and value of truth, as well as related issues in epistemology and the philosophy of mind.

Table of Contents

1. What is Truth?
2. Objectivity
3. Truth and Normativity
4. Epistemic Theories of Truth
5. Correspondence Theories of Truth
6. Deflationary Theories of Truth
7. Pluralist Theories of Truth
8. Deflationism Revisited

Editorial Reviews

"Chase Wrenn's Truth is in my view the best introduction to date to the philosophy of truth. All the familiar issues and concepts are here, together with more recent topics- such as the value of truth, truth pluralism, and debates about deflationism, presented in insightful ways, combining clarity with argumentative rigour. Newcomers and specialists alike will benefit a lot from it."
Pascal Engel, University of Geneva

"This is a splendid book. It is clear, it is comprehensive, and Wrenn's pedagogy is outstanding. It is an 'opinionated introduction,' in Armstrong's phrase, as Wrenn defends a deflationist view of truth, but is all the better for that, and the position is well supported by argument. And Wrenn's chapter on the value of truth is the best discussion I have seen on that topic."
William Lycan, University of North Carolina

From the Publisher