remainswhether

Remainswhether is a neologism used in discussions of epistemic states and semantics to describe a proposition whose truth value is not settled within a given framework. The term signals a persistent status of indeterminacy: the proposition remains, in effect, a matter of whether rather than a settled true or false. The coinage blends the words remains and whether to emphasize ongoing uncertainty about the proposition’s status across contexts.

In use, remainswhether often appears in debates about incomplete information, indeterminate semantics, or cases where rules governing truth evaluation are themselves under dispute. For example, in a partially specified theory, a claim may be said to remain in a remainswhether state until further axioms are adopted or evidence is provided. The concept is closely related to ideas such as truth-value gaps, indeterminacy, and supervaluationism, though it focuses more on the persistence of the question of truth rather than a particular truth value.

Critics argue that remainswhether can be confusing or redundant with existing notions of undecidability or epistemic liminality. Proponents contend that the term can help describe a distinctive state in which the question of truth is kept deliberately open to explore context-dependence or normative implications. See also: undecidable proposition, indeterminacy, truth-value gaps, supervaluationism.