truthbearer

A truthbearer is a term used in philosophy of language and logic to denote any entity that can bear a truth value, meaning it can be true or false. Truthbearers are not limited to sentences; they include propositions, declarative statements, beliefs, utterances, thoughts, and other linguistic or cognitive items that express content capable of being true or false. The concept helps distinguish what carries truth-conditions from what merely describes or represents those conditions.

Common examples of truthbearers include a declarative sentence such as “The Earth orbits the Sun,” a belief such as “It is raining,” an utterance such as “The door is closed,” and a thought such as “Paris is the capital of France.” Each of these can be evaluated for truth or falsehood, though they may differ in whether they exist as spoken language, mental content, or physical artifacts.

Truthbearers are often contrasted with truthmakers, the states of affairs in the world that make a truthbearer true. For instance, the fact that the Earth orbits the Sun serves as the truthmaker for the sentence “The Earth orbits the Sun.” A truthbearer can be true or false depending on whether the corresponding truth conditions are satisfied, and in some theories, may also be indeterminate or unverifiable.

In usage, the term is employed to analyze broad classes of truth-apt items beyond mere sentences, facilitating discussions of semantics, epistemology, and philosophy of mind. While some philosophers question whether a single category is necessary, truthbearers remain a useful neutral label for items capable of truth valuation.