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    Carmelics

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
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    Perspectives
    108,905
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    42
    Home/Original/inverse
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    Inverse View

    It is not the case that Carnap's retrospective concession in 'Introduction to Semantics' that his earlier 'syntax' contained semantic elements reflects his own later terminological stipulations, not a discovery of error.

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    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.If earlier work genuinely contained semantic content, calling it 'merely syntactic' was substantively wrong regardless of terminological choices.
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    • 2.Redefining terms to avoid admitting error is a rhetorical strategy, not evidence that no error occurred in the underlying logical work.
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    • 3.Carnap's concession itself suggests he recognized a real inadequacy—whether terminological or substantive—that earlier work possessed.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
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    • 1.Carnap explicitly redefined 'semantics' and 'syntax' in his later work, making earlier terminology retroactively inconsistent with new definitions.
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    • 2.The shift from syntax to semantics reflects Carnap's changing theoretical framework, not correction of unrecognized errors in earlier work.
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    • 3.Carnap never characterized his earlier position as substantially mistaken, only as using terms differently from his later stipulations.
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