Type: Modifier / Criterion-Relative Condition
Working Definition: Validity is the condition of satisfying the criteria that govern an object, act, inference, claim, or institutional procedure within a specified domain. A statement that something is valid is incomplete unless it identifies the kind of validity claimed, the governing criteria, and the scope in which those criteria apply.
Function in the Grammar: Validity keeps several questions from collapsing into one. A claim may be well supported without having been institutionally accepted. An act may be procedurally valid even when its outcome is unwise. A document may be authentic but contain false propositions. A recognition may be institutionally effective while later being found procedurally invalid. Validity therefore does not mean truth, acceptance, legitimacy, authority, or operative force, although these may depend on particular forms of validity.
Formal Pattern
Validity(v, object: x, kind: K, criteria: R, scope: S, time: t)
K ::= logical | evidential | procedural | constitutional | jurisdictional
| semantic | technical | other-governed-kind
VALID(x, K, R, S, t) iff x satisfies R for validity-kind K in scope S at time t
A validity claim requires a traceable criterion set. VALID(x) without kind, criteria, scope, and time is under-specified.
Core Relations
| Relation | Notes |
|---|---|
| Rule supplies criteria | Rules state conditions against which validity may be assessed. |
| Count-As may depend | A valid application of Count-As requires the applicable rule, context, and conditions to hold. |
| Recognition declares or confers | Recognition may declare that criteria were satisfied or confer a status through an authorized act. Recognition can be mistaken or invalid. |
| Authority enables assessment | An institution may reserve authoritative validity findings to particular roles without making unauthorized assessments logically impossible. |
| Jurisdiction bounds | A validity finding has force only within the domain in which the assessor is authorized to make it. |
| Claim expresses | “X is valid” is itself a claim with an epistemic profile and institutional disposition. |
| Evidence supports | Evidence may support or undermine a validity claim but does not itself confer validity. |
| Judgment settles provisionally | A judgment may settle validity for an institution and scope, subject to appeal, correction, or supersession. |
Distinctions
Validity ≠ Truth. Truth concerns whether a proposition is the case. Validity concerns satisfaction of specified criteria. A deductive argument may be valid while containing false premises; an authentic document may contain false claims.
Validity ≠ Recognition. Validity is criterion-relative satisfaction. Recognition is an act or relation by which an institution accepts or confers status. Something may satisfy the criteria and remain unrecognized, or be recognized through an act later found invalid.
Validity ≠ Legitimacy. Procedural validity does not exhaust normative justification. A validly enacted rule may still be unjust or illegitimate.
Validity ≠ Authority. Authority identifies who may perform an act with institutional effect. Validity asks whether the relevant criteria were satisfied.
Validity ≠ Operative Force. An invalid act may continue to produce effects until set aside. A valid rule may be unenforced or practically ineffective.
Common Failure Modes
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Unqualified validity | An object is called valid without identifying the validity kind or governing criteria. |
| Recognition-validity collapse | Institutional acceptance is treated as proof that criteria were satisfied. |
| Truth-validity collapse | Procedural or logical validity is treated as proof of factual truth. |
| Scope loss | A validity finding made in one jurisdiction or time is treated as universal. |
| Procedural legitimacy laundering | Compliance with procedure is used to silence questions of justice, coercion, or legitimacy. |
Minimum Viable Test Case
Claim(c): "Document d is a valid amendment."
Required decomposition:
kind: constitutional validity
criteria: amendment procedure in Constitution K, version 3
scope: Institution I
time: adoption date t
Recognition by I may give d operative force.
Evidence may show whether the procedure was followed.
A later judgment may find the recognition invalid.
None of those facts alone establishes that d is legitimate or wise.
Cross-References
- Status — validity may be recorded as a status, but only with its kind and scope
- Recognition — the act that may declare or confer institutional standing
- Rule — supplies criteria for validity
- Claim — validity statements are claims, not self-proving labels
- Judgment — may settle validity within jurisdiction