ABSTRACT
In the previous chapter, the basic sentences (represented by P, Q etc. in the truth tables)
were treated as ATOMIC, as if they had no internal structure. It was assumed that
speakers of English simply ‘know’ the truth conditions of each basic sentence, as if their
minds contained a long list of sentences paired with an equally long list of the
corresponding truth conditions. Of course this is not really what happens. This is
probably obvious, but it is worth dwelling on two reasons why it cannot be the case.
