what are presuppositions? if someone says x presupposes y, what do they mean?
In: 0
A presupposition is something that is supposed to happen before the other thing.
X presupposes y, is the same as, x is supposed to come before y.
X must happen for y to occur or x always occurs before y. Typically used in reference to correlation and causation
a concept or statement that you suppose (assumed for the sake of a discussion) before the discussion. Sometimes it is implied rather than directly stated.
Dictionary.com:
“a thing tacitly assumed beforehand at the beginning of a line of argument or course of action.”
If you say that someone drowned, that presupposes that they died. If they were still alive, then they couldn’t have drowned.
If you tell someone to go see a doctor, that presupposes that they have access to a doctor and can pay for the visit.
If you tell someone to ask their parents for help, it presupposes that they have parents and also presupposes that the parents would be capable and willing to help.
Sometimes, you might not be correct about these assumptions.
If X: you lace your shoes
Then presuppose Y: you must have shoes
And even presupposes Z: your shoes have laces
The fact X implies the fact Y and Z. X cannot happen without Y and Z.
A presupposition is an information “y” that isn’t present in “x”, but is assumed to be true otherwise “x” wouldn’t really make sense.
For example, if someone says “Please give me the bottle of Coca.” then obviously it means they know there actually is a bottle of Coca on the table of somewhere nearby. Otherwise the sentence wouldn’t make sense for them to ask for it. So “Please give me the bottle of Coca.” presupposes “There is a bottle of Coca nearby”.
A more subtle example, if someone says “You must save them, otherwise they’ll die!” it presupposes that there is no else that can actually save them, and also that you have some obligation (probably moral ones) to save them. A similar sentence that doesn’t make those same presupposition is “Please save them, if no one does they’ll die!”.
If you ever debate politics with other peoples, there are presupposition everywhere. Each time someone says “to solve [issue], I suggest the following: etc”, then they presuppose that this “issue” is actually an issue. And sometimes those presuppositions are not as clearly put. Ideological beliefs are often used as presuppositions.
For example, you might have seen this internet meme about a banner saying “If you don’t teach your kid to Obey Jesus, the devil will teach them evolution, sexuality, psychology and witchcraft”. This presupposes that evolution/etc are bad things to teach to children. The banner doesn’t says it, it assumes that everyone reading it already agree with the fact that they are evil. And peoples that don’t agree with those presuppositions will look at it and think “And? Is that bad?”.
Latest Answers