Dummett, Michael

"Reductionism in any form fails to account for the holistic nature of conceptual understanding."

"The existence of abstract objects cannot be assumed without justification."

"Time is not a dimension in space but a fundamental feature of our experience and understanding."

"Nominalism avoids commitment to abstract objects by paraphrasing claims about them."

"The debate between realists and anti-realists is fundamentally about the nature of truth."

"Our grasp of truth is mediated by our capacity to recognize and verify it."

"The principle of charity requires interpreting others in a way that makes them rational."

"Every meaningful distinction must be capable of being cashed out in terms of observable difference."

"The study of language is inseparable from the study of human rationality and practice."

"Intuitionistic logic respects the constructive nature of mathematical truth."

"What we call reality is shaped by the conceptual schemes we bring to experience."

"The meaning of a name is the object it names, but this does not exhaust its cognitive significance."

"Vagueness in language is not a defect but a feature that allows for flexibility and context-sensitivity."

"To understand an imperative is to know what would count as obedience to it."

"The objectivity of value depends on the possibility of rational agreement among interlocutors."

"Metaphor is not mere decoration but a way of extending meaning into new domains."

"The past is partially indeterminate because there is no fact of the matter about what would have happened."

"Logical law is not a law of thought but a norm that governs correct reasoning."

"The criterion of identity for a kind of object must be determinable by linguistic practice."

"To assert something is to subject oneself to standards of rational accountability."

"The link between language and reality is not a mirror-relation but a normative one."

"Realism about modality assumes that there are facts about what could and could not be."

"The interpretation of historical texts requires sensitivity to their original context and purpose."

"Proper names do not have senses; their contribution to meaning is exhausted by what they denote."

"The unity of a complex thought depends on the relations among its component thoughts."

"Scientific realism commits us to the claim that our best theories are approximately true."

"The principle of excluded middle assumes a metaphysical realism that is not always warranted."

"Our understanding of value is internal to our participation in human forms of life."

"Platonism in mathematics leads to epistemological problems that are best avoided."

"The verification of a mathematical statement requires a constructive proof, not merely a consistency proof."