Against transition state dialetheism
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21334987 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Tristan Grøtvedt Haze (0000-0002-2098-1892, The University of Melbourne, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Pages | 1-12 |
| Publication date | 2025-11-05 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Inquiry (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0020-174X • E-ISSN: 1502-3923 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/0020174x.2025.2583308 |
| OpenAlex | W4415946188 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 13 |
Graham Priest, in various places, has argued that when you are halfway through walking out of a room, you are both in and not in the room. I argue against this view. ‘In the room’ is open textured and latently ambiguous, admitting of an in-favouring and a not-in-favouring interpretation. Unlike with ordinary ambiguity, where a word or phrase gets used sometimes with one meaning, sometimes with another, a latently ambiguous expression is used with a subtly indeterminate meaning before the latent ambiguity comes to light. This latent ambiguity of ‘in the room’ is not well known because we don't ordinarily talk about what is the case exactly halfway through walking out of a room. Properly appreciating it neutralizes Priest's argument
Ambiguity · Indeterminate · Meaning (existential) · Phrase · State (computer science) · Transition (genetics) · Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics · Philosophy and Theoretical Science · Theology and Philosophy of Evil
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |