Abstract

The book begins by noting that the sense of mystery surrounding truth stems from the fact that we insist on an answer to the question ‘What is truth?’, and are perplexed when no decent one can be found. But once the mundane generalizing function of this concept is appreciated, we can see that a reductive analysis of truth should never have been expected. The chapter continues with brief discussions of such theories. It ends with a summary of the objections to minimalism that are addressed in subsequent chapters.