Language and the Pursuit of Truth
From
Language and the Pursuit of Truth
John Wilson
CONTENTS
Preface
Select Bibliography
Chapter I. WORDS
A. THE FUNCTION OF WORDS
B. TYPES OF WORDS
1. Descriptive words 2. Evaluative words 3. 'Pointer' words 4. Interjections
C. MISTAKES ABOUT WORDS
1. Magic 2. Ambiguity
Chapter II. STATEMENTS
A. THE FUNCTION OF STATEMENTS
1. Poetic communication 2. Prose communication
B. VERIFICATION
C. TYPES OF STATEMENTS
1. Imperatives and attitude-statements 2. Empirical statements 3. Analytic statements 4. Value statements 5. Metaphysical statements
Chapter III. TRUTH
A. THE CONDITIONS OF TRUTH
B. THE BASIS OF MEANING AND VERIFICATION
C. VALUE STATEMENTS
D. METAPHYSICAL STATEMENTS
E. PREJUDICE