Nomic Statements (I): Scientific Laws

Abstract

Statements are the basic linguistic means for expressing knowledge. Yet, strictly speaking there are genuine statements which seem to tell us nothing about the world or, for that matter, about any subject-matter at all, including their own. Such statements necessarily assume a very limited role in systematic discourse. They cannot, for example, serve as relevant premises in any factual inference. Nor can they serve, as nomic statements, to express any law of nature. Nevertheless, their function in the systemization of knowledge is an important one and is closely tied to the crucial role of logical inference in all systematic discourse. To see how this is so, let us review some basic matters about statements in general.