 For Jones, the laws of contradiction and excluded middle apply exclusively to contentful assertions. Jones’s worry is that the conception of content inherited from Lotze, on which S is P is, effectively, A is A, is a poor model not only for ordinary assertions, but also of instances of the laws of contradiction and excluded middle. These laws tell us, respectively, that it cannot be the case, for example, both that Socrates is mortal and that he is not, and that it must be the case that either Socrates is mortal or he is not. In short, they tell us, of a significant assertion Φ, that either Φ or its negation obtains, and that Φ and its negation cannot both obtain. 