| FA-50206-04 | Research Programs: Fellowships for University Teachers | Trenton Merricks | Truth and Existence | 7/1/2004 - 5/31/2005 | $40,000.00 | Trenton | | Merricks | | | | University of Virginia | Charlottesville | VA | 22903-4833 | USA | 2003 | Metaphysics | Fellowships for University Teachers | Research Programs | 40000 | 0 | 40000 | 0 |
The Received View in contemporary metaphysics is that each truth is made true by which things exist and by which properties those things have. It is now standard practice not only to endorse the Received View but also, following David Armstrong, David Lewis, and many others, to wield it against one or another philosophical theory. I am requesting an NEH fellowship to write a book, Truth and Existence, in which I argue that the Received View is flawed. And once it is repaired, I argue, it is no longer fit to be a non-question-begging test for theories. Moreover, I articulate and defend an important step in the process of evaluating theories, a step that builds on what the Received View gets right but abandons what it gets wrong. I then reconsider the theories attacked by the Received View. Along the way, we gain a variety of insights into each of the theories discussed. |