presupposition

<philosophical terminology> what is implicitly involved in making an assertion. Hence, according to P.F. Strawson, a presupposition is a necessary condition for either the truth or the falsity of the statement that presupposes it. Thus, for example, "My grand-daughter is a smart baby" - whether or not she exhibits intelligent behavior - presupposes that I do, in fact, have at least one female grand-child. Recommended Reading: Douglas N. Walton, Argumentation Schemes for Presumptive Reasoning (Erlbaum, 1995); Nirit Kadmon, Formal Pragmatics: Semantics, Pragmatics, Presupposition, and Focus (Blackwell, 2001); and Gennaro Chierchia, Dynamics of Meaning: Anaphora, Presupposition, and the Theory of Grammar (Chicago, 1995).

[A Dictionary of Philosophical Terms and Names]

<2002-03-12>

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Nearby terms: pre-order traversal « prescriptivism « presocratic philosophers « presupposition » Price Henry Habberly » Price Richard » Prichard H.A.