Non-Persistent Truths and Alethic Charity [Critical Note]
Issue: Issue 18 • Author/s: Peter Ludlow
Topics: Epistemology, Metaphysics, Philosophy of language, Theoretical philosophy
In his fascinating paper on non-persistent truths, Andrea Bonomi makes the case that the truth value of propositions may shift over time, and he takes issue with Gareth Evans’ criticism of such a view. Some of the linguistic evidence provided by Bonomi may strike philosophers as suspect, but I build a case for the legitimacy of such evidence under a principle that I call “alethic charity,” which governs folk truth attributions. I also speculate that some of Bonomi’s judgments may reflect the hidden presence of epistemic modality.