“Sorry I’m late” suggests that either the actor making the declaration or the person to whom the comment is directed think that a lapse in punctuality has occurred. An avowal such as “the theory of evolution is correct” seems to take for granted that there are those who deem it to be wrong. “Bruce didn’t hide the evidence” for a start presupposes that there is evidence. A remark that “Wal doesn’t hang out at the Lotus bar every lunch time!” suggests that Wal frequents the place a good deal, if not on all lunch times. The question “Has Betty stopped smoking?” presupposes that Betty has smoked. Likewise “How is your wife (or husband)?” indicates that the enquirer believes one has a spouse.

Imagine a conversation about the nature of ‘god’. One says god isn’t all-knowing because if ‘he’ is then he already knows everything that is going to happen so where does that leave human “free will”? The other agrees that ‘god’ is all-knowing and does know all that will happen throughout time, but that humans aren’t privy to what the almighty knows so from a human perspective “free will” exists. That there is a ‘god’ appears to be a basis of their discussion, even if what the word denotes might be rather unclear.

When a statement presupposes something this means that the statement assumes or infers that certain things are true, in the above example, that there is a ‘god’ of some description.

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