Question Could necessary truths like "red is a color" turn out to be wrong?

Accepted:
April 17, 2019

Comments

Not if they really are

Not if they really are necessary truths. By definition, any necessary truth couldn't possibly have been false.

It takes some care to state propositions in such a way that they really are necessarily true. For instance, Red is a color asserts the existence of something -- red, or redness -- that arguably doesn't exist in every possible world. If there are possible worlds in which nothing physical ever exists, then nothing is red or (arguably) even could be red in such worlds, making it unclear whether there is a color red in such worlds. By contrast, the necessarily true proposition Whatever is red is colored doesn't assert the existence of anything, so it comes out (vacuously) true even in worlds lacking any red or colored things.

Question Could necessary truths like "red is a color" turn out to be wrong? Accepted:April 17, 2019

Question Could necessary truths like "red is a color" turn out to be wrong?

Accepted:
April 17, 2019