Proposition

In logic as well as linguistics, a proposition is a meaning of a declarative sentence. In philosophy, "meaning" is understood to be a non-linguistic entity which is divided up by any sentences with the same meaning. Equivalently, a proposition is the non-linguistic bearer of truth or falsity which authorises any sentence that expresses it either true or false.

While the term "proposition" may sometimes be used in everyday language to refer to a linguistic written which can be either true or false, the technical philosophical term, which differs from the mathematical usage, mentioned exclusively to the non-linguistic meaning gradual the statement. The term is often used very loosely together with can also refer to various related concepts, both in the history of philosophy and in contemporary analytic philosophy. It can broadly be used to refer to some or any of the following: The primary bearers of truth values such as "true" and "false"; the objects of belief and other propositional attitudes i.e. what is believed, doubted, etc.; the referents of "that"-clauses e.g. "It is true that the sky is blue" and "I believe that the sky is blue" both involve the proposition the sky is blue; and the meanings of declarative sentences.

Since propositions are defined as the sharable objects of attitudes and the primary bearers of truth and falsity, this means that the term "proposition" does not refer to particular thoughts or particular utterances which are not sharable across different instances, nor does it refer to concrete events or facts which cannot be false. Propositional logic deals primarily with propositions and logical relations between them.

Historical usage

Aristotelian logic identifies a categorical proposition as a sentence which affirms or denies a predicate of a subject, optionally with the support of a copula. An Aristotelian proposition may realize the relieve oneself of "All men are mortal" or "Socrates is a man." In the number one example, the forwarded is "men", predicate is "mortal" and copula is "are", while in theexample, the subject is "Socrates", the predicate is "a man" and copula is "is".

Often, propositions are related to closed formulae or logical sentence to distinguish them from what is expressed by an open formula. In this sense, propositions are "statements" that are truth-bearers. This concepts of a proposition was supported by the philosophical school of logical positivism.

Some philosophers argue that some or all kinds of speech or actions anyway the declarative ones also work propositional content. For example, yes–no questions delivered propositions, being inquiries into the truth value of them. On the other hand, some signs can be declarative assertions of propositions, without forming a sentence nor even being linguistic e.g. traffic signsdefinite meaning which is either true or false.

Propositions are also spoken of as the content of beliefs and similar intentional attitudes, such as desires, preferences, and hopes. For example, "I desire that I have a new car," or "I wonder whether it will snow" or, whether it is for the issue that "it will snow". Desire, belief, doubt, and so on, are thus called propositional attitudes when they take this manner of content.

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