ABSTRACT
It was in part the grain-size problem that motivated the neo-Russellian ‘structured propositions’ approach of Salmon (1986) and Soames (1987). This approach views propositions as complex entities possessing constituents: the objects, properties, and relations the proposition is about. The constituent structure of neo-Russellian propositions makes them sufficiently fine-grained to capture the differences in content that pose a problem for the possible-worlds account. King therefore embraces the neo-Russellian approach, but argues that it faces a problem of its own, which serves to motivate his own account. For neo-Russellians typically represent propositions using set-theoretic devices such as ordered n-tuples – representing, for instance, the propositions John loves Mary and Mary loves John (respectively) as follows:
(1) , John, loving, Mary . (2) , Mary, loving, John .
