Propositions, Properties and Paradox

Contrary to views that diagnose the paradoxes of truth and related notions in terms of sentences not expressing propositions, or expressing propositions different from what they appear to express and which aren’t paradoxical, or expressing multiple propositions none of which are paradoxical, the paper argues that the basic paradoxes are paradoxes of propositions; or alternatively, of sentential quantification. Similarly for the paradoxes of satisfaction: the basic paradoxes arise for properties, or for quantification into predicate position. (In the latter case, it’s argued that adopting the syntactic restrictions of Russellian type theory is not the best way to go.). The paradoxes of propositions and properties can be resolved either in classical or non-classical logic, but the paper focuses mostly on non-classical options, and develops an account of property identity in which properties defined using the notion of property identity are allowed and the naive abstraction principle holds unrestrictedly.

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Publication Details

Journal
The Australasian Journal of Logic
Published
2026-01-12
DOI
https://doi.org/10.26686/ajl.v23i1.10273
Primary Topic
Philosophy and Theoretical Science
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Propositions, Properties and Paradox

HARTRY FIELD
The Australasian Journal of Logic
Philosophy and Theoretical Science
article

Propositions, Properties and Paradox

HARTRY FIELD
article en

Abstract

Contrary to views that diagnose the paradoxes of truth and related notions in terms of sentences not expressing propositions, or expressing propositions different from what they appear to express and which aren’t paradoxical, or expressing multiple propositions none of which are paradoxical, the paper argues that the basic paradoxes are paradoxes of propositions; or alternatively, of sentential quantification. Similarly for the paradoxes of satisfaction: the basic paradoxes arise for properties, or for quantification into predicate position. (In the latter case, it’s argued that adopting the syntactic restrictions of Russellian type theory is not the best way to go.). The paradoxes of propositions and properties can be resolved either in classical or non-classical logic, but the paper focuses mostly on non-classical options, and develops an account of property identity in which properties defined using the notion of property identity are allowed and the naive abstraction principle holds unrestrictedly.

The Australasian Journal of LogicVol. 23(1)
New York University (US)
Peace, Justice and strong institutions
Openalex Percentile: Top 90%
Philosophy and Theoretical Science
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