Half-Truths and the Liar

Abstract

A half-truth may be defined as a sentence that is true in one sense, but that fails to be true in another sense, hence as a sentence only true to some extent. This chapter discusses some aspects in which the Liar may be considered a half-truth. Talk of half-truths, like talk of half-full containers, implies that truth is gradable, and moreover that some sentences can be true without being perfectly true. In this chapter some evidence for the view that “true” and “false” are absolute gradable adjectives is reviewed, and it is argued that both are moreover systematically ambiguous between a total and a partial interpretation supporting the strict-tolerant distinction. This evidence is used to revisit the strict-tolerant account of the Liar. While the strict-tolerant account was originally conceived for vague predicates, its extension to the semantic paradoxes assumed that assertion, but not truth, comes in different degrees. This claim is reconsidered, and it is argued that we get a more unified picture by treating “true” as a special type of vague predicate.