Do Necessary Truths Lack Truthmakers?

There is a widely accepted claim that necessary truths lack truthmakers. The (implicit) argument for this claim hinges on the ideas that necessary truths hold regardless of what exists, and that truth depends on the existence of its truthmaker. By analyzing the role of dependence in truthmaking, the claim that necessary truths cannot have truthmakers is challenged. I distinguish two senses of “dependence” and argue that necessary truths can have a “productive” kind of truthmaker. Finally, I propose an account of truthmakers for a certain class of necessary truths──metaphysical necessities──based on essentialism.

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Publication Details

Journal
Kagaku tetsugaku
Published
2025-09-29
DOI
https://doi.org/10.4216/jpssj.58.1_1-25
Primary Topic
Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Do Necessary Truths Lack Truthmakers?

Shogo Tsuboi
Kagaku tetsugaku
Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics
article

Do Necessary Truths Lack Truthmakers?

Shogo Tsuboi
article en

Abstract

There is a widely accepted claim that necessary truths lack truthmakers. The (implicit) argument for this claim hinges on the ideas that necessary truths hold regardless of what exists, and that truth depends on the existence of its truthmaker. By analyzing the role of dependence in truthmaking, the claim that necessary truths cannot have truthmakers is challenged. I distinguish two senses of “dependence” and argue that necessary truths can have a “productive” kind of truthmaker. Finally, I propose an account of truthmakers for a certain class of necessary truths──metaphysical necessities──based on essentialism.

Kagaku tetsugakuVol. 58(1)
Hitotsubashi University (JP)
Openalex Percentile: Top 75%
Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics
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Do Necessary Truths Lack Truthmakers? — Shogo Tsuboi · Kagaku tetsugaku (2025) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS