Talk:Presupposition

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[edit] or

I've removed a big chunk of anonymously-contributed original research. It seemed to have been written by someone with poor English and didn't really make sense. I started fleshing it out, but then realised it was original research, so decided to just cut it.

Also, who is "Russell"? Bertrand Russell? Hairy Dude 13:16, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] word

I'm unclear what the "pre" adds to "supposition". Could it be tautological? To suppose is to do something prior to doing something else. If I suppose you're in the pub when I'm on my way there, I do it before I arrive. I can't do it once I'm there and know whether you are too. pauldanon 20061024

"Presupposition" is the standard term, whether it's tautological or not. I don't think it is: it reflects the fact that presuppositions are suppositions that the speaker takes for granted, or must be part of the common ground prior to the utterance of the sentence in order for it to be a felicitous one. Other "suppositions" or implications don't have the same status. For example, a false entailment of a sentence makes that sentence fanse, not infelicitous, and it is not taken for granted, but rather asserted as the content at issue. Neither 01:24, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] My wife is not pregnant

My wife is not pregnant should be true even if I do not have a wife because then my wife is nonexistent. Nonexistent things are not pregnant. Therefore my (nonexistent) wife is not pregnant.

Atul Prasad

No, this is not true. Truth value (true or false) can only be assigned to a proposition if it is clear what the NPs are referring to. If you say "my wife" and you don't have one, no referent can be assigned to the NP "my wife". Thus the truth value for the entire sentence cannot be "calculated". 84.75.229.168 03:55, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

I think it depends on context. I'll doublecheckTutonite (talk) 03:47, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

The classic example is "The present king of France is bald." Bertrand Russell would say such a sentence has no truth value because it is meaningless. It doesn't extend to any object in this world. Pontiff Greg Bard (talk) 02:02, 7 May 2008 (UTC)