green numbers give full details.     |    back to list of philosophers     |     expand these ideas

Ideas of Anil Gupta, by Text

[American, fl. 1993, Professor at Indiana University.]

2001 Truth
5.1 p.90 The Liar reappears, even if one insists on propositions instead of sentences
5.1 p.91 Truth rests on Elimination ('A' is true → A) and Introduction (A → 'A' is true)
5.2 p.101 A weakened classical language can contain its own truth predicate
5.4.2 p.109 Strengthened Liar: either this sentence is neither-true-nor-false, or it is not true
2008 Definitions
Intro p.1 Notable definitions have been of piety (Plato), God (Anselm), number (Frege), and truth (Tarski)
1 p.2 If definitions aim at different ideals, then defining essence is not a unitary activity
1.1 p.3 Chemists aim at real definition of things; lexicographers aim at nominal definition of usage
1.2 p.3 Ostensive definitions look simple, but are complex and barely explicable
1.3 p.4 Stipulative definition assigns meaning to a term, ignoring prior meanings
1.4 p.5 A definition can be 'extensionally', 'intensionally' or 'sense' adequate
1.5 p.5 The ordered pair <x,y> is defined as the set {{x},{x,y}}, capturing function, not meaning
2 p.6 Definitions usually have a term, a 'definiendum' containing the term, and a defining 'definiens'
2.2 p.9 Traditional definitions are general identities, which are sentential and reductive
2.4 p.12 A definition needs to apply to the same object across possible worlds
2.4 p.13 Traditional definitions need: same category, mention of the term, and conservativeness and eliminability
2.7 p.20 The 'revision theory' says that definitions are rules for improving output