Logic List Mailing Archive

PhD student positions in "The Making of Truth", Barcelona (Spain), Deadline: 10 Sep 2013

The Spanish Government has open a call for 4-year predoctoral contracts, 
including one within research project "*The Makings of Truth: Nature, 
Extent, and Applications of Truthmaking*" (details below).

Interested candidates should apply directly to the Ministry ( 
http://www.idi.mineco.gob.es/portal/site/MICINN/menuitem.dbc68b34d11ccbd5d52ffeb801432ea0/?vgnextoid=68eb71d255dcf310VgnVCM1000001d04140aRCRD), 
but are strongly advised to get in touch with me for further details and 
assistance.

Please notice deadline: *September 10, 15:00* (Barcelona time).

Best regards, Dan


MoT?The Makings of Truth: Nature, Extent, and Applications of Truthmaking

*Code:* FFI2012-35026

*Duration:* 2013 - 2015
  Principal Investigator

Dan López de Sa (LOGOS-Barcelona)
  Other researchers

Fabrice Correia (Neuchâtel)

Aurélien Darbellay (LOGOS-Barcelona)

John Horden (LOGOS-Barcelona)

Joan Pagès (LOGOS-Girona)

Bryan Pickel (Edinburgh)

Benjamin Schnieder (Hamburg)

Stephan Torre (Aberdeen)

Robbie Williams (Leeds)

Richard Woodward (Hamburg)

Elia Zardini (LOGOS-Barcelona)
  Summary

A truthmaker for a truth is something in virtue of which the truth is true.
In the last decades, there has been a considerable debate in contemporary
analytic metaphysics in connection with the notion of truthmaker as
attempting to capture a basic insight into the way truths depend on
reality. A considerable part of this discussion has concerned the relata of
truthmaking: which is the nature of the fundamental truth-bearers
(thoughts, propositions, sentences in contexts?) and which entities are
capable of playing a truthmaking role (particulars, state of affairs,
tropes?). The present project focuses on the relation of truthmaking
itself, from three main perspectives: what is the nature of the relation,
what is its extent, and its philosophical significant applications. The
initial hypotheses are (i) that exploring the nature of truthmaking
vis-à-vis the metaphysical relation of grounding, which is becoming one
main focus of attention in recent years, can illuminate the aspects
concerning necessitation and explanation in connection with truthmaking;
(ii) that there is a fruitful interface between discussions concerning the
nature and the extent of truthmaking, and (iii) that truthmaking has indeed
so far underexplored philosophically significant applications regarding
contemporary debates in metaphysics, but also in the philosophy of language
and in so-called ?applied? philosophy. The corresponding objectives are (A)
to explore the nature of truthmaking vis-à-vis grounding, necessitation,
and explanation; (B) to formulate the core of the insight regarding
truthmaking and explore whether it would be vindicated by weakenings of the
maximalist contention that all truths require truthmakers, with special
attention to three notably discussed kinds of cases: modal truths, negative
and general truths, and truths about the past and the future; (C) to
explore philosophically significant applications of truthmaking, with
special attention to three kinds of cases, which have generated
considerable debates in recent years: indeterminacy, meta-metaphysics, and
contextualism/relativism, particularly in connection with practically
significant issues regarding gender, race, and sexuality.

-- 
Dr Dan López de Sa
Universitat de Barcelona
+34 934037901
http://www.ub.edu/grc_logos/dan-lopez-de-sa