• Proposition

    Date: 2009.10.09 | Category: Glossary, Unit SSK12 | Tags:

    Glossary
    Unit: SSK12
    Week: 6
    Date: 09 October 2009

    Word: proposition n.
    Context: Proposition was used in both The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought and The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy, while defining belief.
    Definition: A proposition is “a statement or assertion”; “a statement consisting of subject and predicate [what is said about the subject] that is subject to proof or disproof” (Australian Oxford Dictionary, 2004). The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought (2000) when defining types of proposition says, “propositions may be distinguished in respect (1) of their logical form, e.g. (a) singular, particular or universal, (b) affirmative or negative, (c) categorical…, hypothetical or otherwise complex, (d) existential, attributive or relational; (2) of their kind of TRUTH or VERIFICATION, as a priori or empirical….” and so on. To put that into my own words with the assistance of The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy (2009), a proposition is required in some sentences (due to the grammatical rules of language) where an abstract object is expressed and which bears “truth-values”. Philosophers introduced the word proposition for these purposes. The existence of propositions and their use is debated by some philosophers.
    Word in Use: Within the statement, “The west is losing the war on terror”, the word ‘losing’ is a proposition. The word is truth-bearing, but it can be either true or false.

    The Australian Oxford Dictionary. 2004. 2nd ed. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

    Bullock, A., and Trombley, S., eds. 2000. The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought. 3rd ed. London: Harper Collins.

    Bunnin, N., and Yu, J., eds. 2009. The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy. West Sussex, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell.