A History of Truth-Values

Abstract

The compound word " truth-value", sometimes written " truth value", is a bit monstrous and ambiguous. It is the name of a central concept of modern logic, but has not yet invaded everyday language. An ordinary man will say: it is true that Paris is the capital of France, rather than: the truth-value of " Paris is the capital of France" is true. And a mathematician also will say: it is true that 2. +. 3 = 5, rather than the truth-value of " 2. +. 3 = 5" is true. We don't even find " truth-values" in postmodern or new age discussions side by side with " quantum leap", " imaginary number", " betacognition". It seems that " truth-value" is exclusively used by logicians, philosophers of logic and analytic philosophers. In this paper we will examine the origin of this strange way of speaking and the concept related to it. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.