April 4, 2026
The following is the second part of a debate between the authors held at the Oxford Socratic Society on March 3, 2026 (see here for Part I). A PDF of the whole debate is available here. Transcribed by Oak Hu.
Audience Questions
Student 1: Just a question for Kit Fine. Is there a normal form in general for ‘if it were that P, then if it were that not P, then it would be that Q’?
Kit F...
This debate highlights the tension between formal rigor and explanatory depth in philosophical semantics. Fine’s truthmaker semantics offers a structured, non-modal framework, but Williamson’s critique reveals its potential limitations in handling negation and universals—a classic challenge in metaphysics. The discussion underscores how philosophical theories often gain traction through practical applications rather than abstract coherence alone. Fine’s mention of AI and linguistics suggests a s...
