Online Conference of the Aristotelian Society: Truth

In celebration of the 125th year of the Proceedings we are proud to announce our first ever Online Conference of the Aristotelian Society: a week-long event featuring a classic paper a day from our back catalogue, each accompanied by a commentary by a contemporary philosopher and an online forum open to all.  Continuing in the Society’s long tradition of publishing the proceedings of its live events, both the classic papers and commentaries will be published in our first ever Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, The Virtual Issue, which will be free and available online following the conference.

The first Online Conference and Virtual Issue will focus on the theme of Truth. What is it for the things we say or believe to be true? Does truth depend on a relation between what we say or believe and the world? What are the natures of the things we say or believe, the bearers of truth? To what are the truth-bearers related when they are true: are they related to facts, ordinary objects, or something else? What is the required relation? We’ll want an account of the nature of truth that addresses those questions also to fit with an account of truth’s importance: why should it matter to us that what we say or believe is true rather than false? Our views about truth are liable to impact widely on our views about other things. Are moral claims or views apt to be true or false, or are they to be evaluated along different dimensions? Does truth figure in an account of the nature of belief or the nature of assertion? Is the acquisition of beliefs that are true amongst the fundamental aims of inquiry?

Each of the papers selected for the Online Conference were chosen for the distinctive answers that they advance to these questions. In some cases papers were chosen because they have had a decisive impact on later discussions, in others they were chosen because they present views and arguments that deserve more careful consideration than they have thus far received. In all cases, there is much to be gained from becoming acquainted, or reacquainted, with these important texts.

The Online Conference and Virtual Issue will be moderated and edited by Guy Longworth (Warwick).

The Programme

12 April 2013

F. P. Ramsey, “Facts and Propositions”, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volume VII (1927)

Online Commentary by Peter Sullivan – University of Stirling

13 April 2013

J. L. Austin, “Truth”,Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volume XXIV (1950)

Online Commentary by Charles Travis – Kings College London

14 April 2013

P. F. Strawson, “Truth”, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volume XXIV (1950)

Online Commentary by Paul Snowdon – University College London

15 April 2013

M. A. E. Dummett, “Truth”, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society LIX (1959)

Online Commentary by Ian Rumfitt – Birkbeck, University of London

16 April 2013

P. Geach, “Truth and God”,Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volume LVI (1982)

Online Commentary by Graham Oppy – Monash University

17 April 2013

Jane Heal, “The Disinterested Search for Truth”,Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society LXXXVIII (1988)

Online Commentary by Julian Dodd – Manchester University

18 April 2013

Jennifer Hornsby, “Truth: The Identity Theory”,Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society XCVII (1997).

Online Commentary by Gila Sher – University of California San Diego