Distinguishing Between Fictional Statements and False Statements
According to the Russellian theory of reference, the statement “Long John Silver has a wooden leg” and the statement “Earth's moon has a diameter of 2856 kilometers” are equally false. The first statement suffers reference failure, because it fails to pick out an individual in the actual world. The second sentence refers to an object in the actual world, but the predicate does not obtain in the actual world. Russell's theory thus does not assign different truth-values to the two statements.
Read more about this topic: Fictional Beings And Reference Failure
Famous quotes containing the words fictional, statements and/or false:
“One of the proud joys of the man of letters—if that man of letters is an artist—is to feel within himself the power to immortalize at will anything he chooses to immortalize. Insignificant though he may be, he is conscious of possessing a creative divinity. God creates lives; the man of imagination creates fictional lives which may make a profound and as it were more living impression on the world’s memory.”
—Edmond De Goncourt (1822–1896)
“A sentence is made up of words, a statement is made in words.... Statements are made, words or sentences are used.”
—J.L. (John Langshaw)
“To show an unfelt sorrow is an office
Which the false man does easy.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)