Topics Logic

Question Frequently, I see the statment: "logical truths are trivial". But, what is meant by the word trivial?

Accepted:
September 22, 2012

Comments

Perhaps this: true by definition, v. true by means of some correpondence between their meanings and the world. "Bachelors are unmarried" is logically true, ie true by meaning, because that is how we use the definitions involved; it's a matter of convention and meaning that that sentence is true, and thus one doesn't need to go investigate the world whether it's true -- indeed it's not making a claim primarily about the world at all, if it's truth matter is a function of definition. Contrast with "bachelors live longer on average than average man." Ths is NOT merely logically true, true by definition -- we must go do a study to find out fi it's true, and thus to learn something substantive, some fact, about the world.. Logical truths are trivial because we learn from them no new facts about the world, beyond the meanings of the words involved.

hope that helps--

Question Frequently, I see the statment: "logical truths are trivial". But, what is meant by the word *trivial*? Accepted:September 22, 2012

Question Frequently, I see the statment: "logical truths are trivial". But, what is meant by the word trivial?

Accepted:
September 22, 2012