title: A choice-semantical approach to theoretical truth.
abstract: A central topic in the logic of science concerns the proper semantic analysis of theoretical sentences, that is sentences containing theoretical terms. In this paper, we present a novel choice-semantical account of theoretical truth based on the epsilon-term definition of theoretical terms. Specifically, we develop two ways of specifying the truth conditions of theoretical statements in a choice functional semantics, each giving rise to a corresponding logic of such statements. In order to investigate the inferential strength of these logical systems, we provide a translation of each truth definition into a modal definition of theoretical truth. Based on this, we show that the stronger notion of choice-semantical truth captures more adequately our informal semantic understanding of scientific statements.
authors.affiliation: Department of Philosophy, University of British Columbia, Canada. Electronic address: holger.andreas@ubc.ca.
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Andreas
authors.affiliation: Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy, LMU, Munich, Germany; Department of Philosophy, University of Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: georg.schiemer@univie.ac.at.
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schiemer
mesh_terms: D008128:Logic; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012586:Science; D012660:Semantics
keywords: Choice semantics; Epsilon logic; Logic of science; Rudolf Carnap; Theoretical terms; Theoretical truth