PHIL1005 Study Guide - Final Guide: Alternative Facts, Venomous Mammal
PHIL1005 – WK 1: FACTS AND CLAIMS
FACTS
- Facts are ways things are.
oE.g. I am human, There are eight planets in our solar system, Male platypuses have
venomous spurs
BELIEFS
- It is crucial to distinguish between:
oFacts (how things are)
oAnd Beliefs concerning facts (beliefs concerning how things are) such as in the heat of an
argument
- Some beliefs are true (since the world is the way the believer is representing it to be)
- Others are false (b/c the world is not the way the believer represents it to be).
OTHER ATTTITUDES
- Beliefs can either be true or false
- But other mental state and attitudes are not the sorts of things that can be true or false (b/c they
do not represent how things are)
- Preferences e.g. the preference for chocolate over vanilla ice-cream. Isn’t truth apt.
- Desires e.g. the desire for a doughnut (cannot be true or false)
STATEMENTS
- Statements concern the way things are, they express a certain claim about the way things are
- Suppose I sat that ‘Male platypuses have venomous spurs.’
- By uttering this sentence I am saying something about the way things are
- This statement is true just in case things really are the way. It is true just in case male platypuses
really do have venomous spurs.
Statements and Non-statements
- Some things we say are not statements; when we are not saying things about the way the world is.
- Statements are truth-apt; statements can be true or false.
- Questions: ‘are you studying philosophy?’
- Commands: ‘Quiet down’ – not truth valuable
- Expressions of frustration: ‘GAH!’
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Document Summary
I am human, there are eight planets in our solar system, male platypuses have venomous spurs. It is crucial to distinguish between: facts (how things are, and beliefs concerning facts (beliefs concerning how things are) such as in the heat of an argument. Some beliefs are true (since the world is the way the believer is representing it to be) Others are false (b/c the world is not the way the believer represents it to be). But other mental state and attitudes are not the sorts of things that can be true or false (b/c they do not represent how things are) Preferences e. g. the preference for chocolate over vanilla ice-cream. Desires e. g. the desire for a doughnut (cannot be true or false) Statements concern the way things are, they express a certain claim about the way things are. Suppose i sat that male platypuses have venomous spurs. ".
