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image/svg+xml Jakob Voss, based on art designer at PLoS, modified by Wikipedia users Nina and Beao Closed Access logo, derived from PLoS Open Access logo. This version with transparent background. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Closed_Access_logo_transparent.svg Jakob Voss, based on art designer at PLoS, modified by Wikipedia users Nina and Beao European Journal of ...arrow_drop_down
image/svg+xml Jakob Voss, based on art designer at PLoS, modified by Wikipedia users Nina and Beao Closed Access logo, derived from PLoS Open Access logo. This version with transparent background. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Closed_Access_logo_transparent.svg Jakob Voss, based on art designer at PLoS, modified by Wikipedia users Nina and Beao
European Journal of Philosophy
Article . 2026 . Peer-reviewed
License: Wiley Online Library User Agreement
Data sources: Crossref
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Reconstructing Propositions: Symbols, Facts, and the Empirical Framework

Authors: Nigel Hems;

Reconstructing Propositions: Symbols, Facts, and the Empirical Framework

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, I argue for a systematic account of propositions as statements through reconstructive engagement with A. J. Ayer and Gilbert Ryle, using historical analysis as the method rather than the end to highlight their shared effort to eliminate mentalistic and realist assumptions. Both aim to explain factual and non‐factual statements without appeal to intentional acts or abstract “objects of thought.” Ayer's Thinking and Meaning (1947, hereafter TaM ) reduces propositions to meaningful symbols, while his later “Meaning and Intentionality" (1967, hereafter MaI) advances a more thoroughgoing eliminativism that dissolves propositional talk altogether. I respond by developing a framework that treats propositions as statements, preserving their role in ordinary language while avoiding metaphysical commitments. Drawing on Ryle's “Are There Propositions?” (1971b, hereafter ATP), I reconstruct the implicit conceptual structures of his account to articulate a triadic system of “thinking of … as,” matter–form schemata, and empirico‐logical conditionals. These structures function as formal resources rather than ontological posits. The resulting reconstruction provides a novel anti‐representationalist and anti‐realist account of propositions—one that preserves the empirical significance of statements while bridging the divide between eliminativist and ontologically inflationary approaches.

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selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
0
Average
Average
Average
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