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A '''presupposition''' (or ps) is an implicit assumption about the world or background [[belief]] relating to an utterance whose [[truth]] is taken for granted in [[discourse]]. Examples of presuppositions include:
A '''presupposition''' (or ps) is an implicit assumption about the world or background [[belief]] relating to an utterance whose [[truth]] is taken for granted in [[discourse]]. Examples of presuppositions include:
A presupposition must be mutually known or assumed by the speaker and addressee for the utterance to be considered appropriate in [[context]]. It will generally remain a [[necessary]] assumption whether the utterance is placed in the form of an assertion, denial, or [[Inquiry|question]], and can be associated with a specific lexical item or [[Grammar|grammatical]] feature in the utterance.
A presupposition must be mutually known or assumed by the speaker and addressee for the utterance to be considered appropriate in [[context]]. It will generally remain a [[necessary]] assumption whether the utterance is placed in the form of an assertion, denial, or [[Inquiry|question]], and can be associated with a specific lexical item or [[Grammar|grammatical]] feature in the utterance.
<center>For lessons on the related [[topic]] of '''''Assumptions''''', follow [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Assumptions '''''this link'''''].</center>
Crucially, negation of an [[expression]] does not [[change]] its presuppositions: I want to do it again and I don't want to do it again both presuppose that the subject has done it already one or more times; My wife is pregnant and My wife is not pregnant both presuppose that the subject has a wife. In this respect, presupposition is distinguished from entailment and implicature. For example, The president was assassinated entails that The president is dead, but if the expression is negated, the entailment is not necessarily true.
Crucially, negation of an [[expression]] does not [[change]] its presuppositions: I want to do it again and I don't want to do it again both presuppose that the subject has done it already one or more times; My wife is pregnant and My wife is not pregnant both presuppose that the subject has a wife. In this respect, presupposition is distinguished from entailment and implicature. For example, The president was assassinated entails that The president is dead, but if the expression is negated, the entailment is not necessarily true.
==Negation of a sentence containing a presupposition==
==Negation of a sentence containing a presupposition==
:2. Strawson's approach: Both "my wife is pregnant" and "my wife is not pregnant" use a wrong presupposition (i.e. that there exists a referent which can be described with the noun phrase my wife) and therefore can not be assigned truth values.
:2. Strawson's approach: Both "my wife is pregnant" and "my wife is not pregnant" use a wrong presupposition (i.e. that there exists a referent which can be described with the noun phrase my wife) and therefore can not be assigned truth values.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_Russell Bertrand Russell] tries to solve this [[dilemma]] with two [[interpretation]]s of the negated sentence:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_Russell Bertrand Russell] tries to solve this [[dilemma]] with two [[interpretation]]s of the negated sentence:
:1. "There exists exactly one person, who is my wife and who is not pregnant"
:1. "There exists exactly one person, who is my wife and who is not pregnant"
