Theories of Truth: A Critical Introduction

Rating:
Summary: Best intro to theories of truth
Review: By far the best introduction to theories of truth. The author has a preternatural gift for exposition. Even the twistiest corners of truth-theorizing are explained clearly without being oversimplified.

He comes down a little hard on James and the pragmatic theory of truth, but having opinions is a good thing, not a bad thing. Of particular interest is his chapters on the Liar paradox--an almost unbelievably lucid explication. Follow up with Scott Soames book on truth, and you'll be well on your way.

Rating:
Summary: Extremely clear intro to a difficult topic
Review: I came across a copy of this book at a used books store. I didn't know anything about it, but since I'm interested in theories of truth, I bought it and it far surpassed my expectations.

The author is an excellent writer and is very good at explaining rather difficult topics. He also does an excellent job of distinguishing all the different issues that are often conflated in discussions about truth.

The book includes very good discussions of the theories of Russell, Dummett, Davidson, Tarski, and Kripke among others. The only criticism I can make of the book is that the author's sympathies for correspondence theories are a little obvious. That is not to say that he is dismissive of non-correspondence theories nor that he is uncritical of correspondence theorists. His arguments against his opponents are quite strong, and he is very upfront about acknowledging the difficulties facing correspondence theories. I mention this criticism only because the book is supposed to be an introduction but is more of an opinionated introduction.

Overall, this is a excellent book. I would reccomend it to anyone with an interest in the topic. Some philosophical background is helpful, but not necessary.