Acting truly

pp. 100-124

in: Richard J. Campbell, The concept of truth, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011

Abstract

Our investigation of autonomous life has justified a graduated concept of action applicable to the entire biological domain. And the logical structure of actions validates three related senses in which an action can be true: it can succeed in doing what it aims to accomplish; the functional indications which render it appropriate can be reliable; and its dynamic presuppositions can be correct. Our analysis thus demonstrates how truth is grounded in the category of action.