Metaphysical Realism and Internal Realism

Abstract

All of us agree that some sentences are true and some are false. We further agree that the truth values of sentences are determined by two factors: language and reality. The truth of ‘Mount Everest is higher than Mont Blanc’ is due partly to the meanings of the expressions occurring in it, partly to the way things in fact are. If ‘Mount Everest’ meant Eiger, it would be false. It would also be false if Mount Everest were not actually higher than Mont Blanc. We also agree that the truth values of most sentences are in some sense independent of us. Of course, we may conspire to change the meanings of the words or transform the world and thereby change the truth values of the sentences, but if we keep the meanings fixed and the world unchanged, the truth values will be independent of our beliefs, desires, fears or hopes. We usually explain this independence by saying that reality, i. e. the way things are, is independent of us. The truth of the sentence ‘Mount Everest is higher than Mont Blanc’ is independent of us, because the fact that Mount Everest is higher than Mont Blanc does not depend on our beliefs, fears, desires, etc.