propositional truth

is impossible because what is true is not the proposition about a being, but the being itself, a thing, a fact.

Indeed, Heidegger believes that propositional truth must be grounded in the truth or unhiddenness of entities: 'what is primordially true, i.e., unhidden, is not the proposition about a being, but the being itself a thing, a fact. (Wrathall 'heidegger on plato' 446)

is superficial in comparison to 'truth as unconcealment', for it depends on and and is derived from the far more fundamental truth of unconcealment (aletheia) that is central to our existence.

Ancient Greek: 'truth'. Etymologically, aletheia means unconcealment (BT: 261). Heidegger believed that all other truths, for instance propositional truth, are superficial in comparison, for they depend on and are derived from this primordial truth of +words, all such truths must always already be grounded on a prior understanding of Being and beings, a more fundamental truth of unconcealment that is central to our existence.

is made possible by a more fundamental phenomenon, ‘original truth’ as the condition of possibility or sense-making structure in which such truth can become intelligible.

How does all this relate to Heidegger's account of truth? Answering this question adds a new dimension to the pivotal phenomenon of revealing. Heidegger points out that the philosophical tradition standardly conceives of truth as attaching to propositions, and as involving some sort of correspondence between propositions and states of affairs. But whereas for the tradition (as Heidegger characterizes it), propositional truth as correspondence exhausts the phenomenon of truth, for Heidegger, it is merely the particular manifestation of truth that is operative in those domains, such as science, that concern themselves with the Real. According to Heidegger, propositional truth as correspondence is made possible by a more fundamental phenomenon that he dubs ‘original truth’. Heidegger's key thought here is that before (in a conceptual sense of ‘before’) there can be any question of correspondence between propositions and states of affairs, there needs to be in place a field of intelligibility (Reality, a world), a sense-making structure within which entities may be found.

is secondary. A bird does not have to form beliefs about aerodynamics before it can fly. We are not databases stocked with trillions of propositions that orient us in life. Oriented living comes first; it gives rise to propositions on special occasions.

We need not assume that I have to have such assertions stored in my mind before I can relate to the gloves, any more than a bird has to form beliefs about aerodynamics before it can fly. We are not databases stocked with trillions of propositions that orient us in life. Oriented living comes first; it gives rise to propositions on special occasions. (For instance, I may say "The gloves are warm" to my wife in order to thank her for giving them to me on my birthday.)

propositional truth, n.Definitions

propositional truth