Philosophers have long debated the nature of truth. The classic and contemporary articles in this collection represent the four most influential theories to emerge from their debates – correspondence, pragmatist, coherence, and deflationary theories.

The book includes reflections on truth by C.S. Peirce, William James, Bertrand Russell, Francis Dauer, Alfred Tarski, Hartry Field, Dorothy Grover, Joseph L. Camp Jr., Nuel D. Belnap Jr., Philip Kitcher and Anil Gupta. These contributions are grouped into four sections, each dealing with one major theory, but also proceed broadly chronologically. In this way, the reader gains both a clear idea of each theory and a sense of how theories of truth have developed over time. Attention is focused particularly on the resurgence of the correspondence theory since the 1970s, and on reactions to the new correspondence theory among contemporary deflationists.

The volume opens with a substantial introduction to theories of truth, aimed at readers with little or no prior knowledge of philosophy.

"Theories of Truthcontains a judicious set of readings representing the core positions in the field together with a critical introduction that is comprehensive, balanced, and penetrating. This will be an enormously useful reader." Alvin I. Goldman, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey <!--end-->

The classic and contemporary readings in this collection represent the four most influential theories of truth – correspondence, pragmatist, coherence, and deflationary theories.

• A collection of classic and contemporary philosophical reflections on the nature of truth.

• Opens with an introduction to theories of truth, designed for readers with little or no prior knowledge of the subject.

• Divided into four sections on the most important theories of truth - correspondence, pragmatist, coherence, and deflationary theories.

• Brings together articles in the recent debate over the correspondence theory and deflationism that are not otherwise available in one place.

• Includes contributions by C.S. Peirce, William James, Bertrand Russell, Alfred Tarski, Hartry Field, Dorothy Grover, Anil Gupta and others.

• Concludes with an extensive bibliography of recent articles on truth.

Frederick F. Schmittis Professor of Philosophy at Indiana University. He is the author of Knowledge and Belief(1992), Truth: A Primer(1995), and the editor of Socializing Epistemology(1994) and Socializing Metaphysics(2003).

Acknowledgements.

Truth: An Introduction: Frederick F. Schmitt.

Part I: Pragmatist Theories of Truth:.

1. How To Make Our Ideas Clear: Charles Sanders Peirce.

2. Pragmatism’s Conception of Truth: William James.

Part II: Coherence Theories of Truth:.

3. On the Nature of Truth: Bertrand Russell.

4. In Defense of the Coherence Theory of Truth: Francis Dauer.

Part III: Correspondence Theories of Truth:.

5. The Semantic Conception of Truth and the Foundations of Semantics: Alfred Tarski.

6. Tarski’s Theory of Truth: Hartry Field.

7. Truth and Language-World Connections: Dorothy Grover.

8. The Explanatory Role of Correspondence Truth: Philip Kitcher.

Part IV: Deflationary Theories of Truth:.

9. A Prosentential Theory of Truth: Dorothy L. Grover, Joseph L. Camp, Jr. and Nuel D. Belnap, Jr.

10. Deflationist Views of Meaning and Content: Hartry Field.

11. Minimalism: Anil Gupta.

Truth: A Bibliography: Kevin Kimble and Frederick F. Schmitt.

Index.