Truth
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Truth is a concept of primary importance to philosophy, science and religion although no single definition of it captures all of the possible meanings which have been ascribed to it. Various senses in which the term truth have been used are described below.
To tell the truth at law
Witnesses who swear under oath to testify truthfully in courts of law, are not expected to make infallibly true statements, but to make a good faith attempt to recount an observed event from their memory or provide expert testimony. That what one witness says may differ from true accounts of other witnesses is a commonplace occurrence in the practice of law. Triers-of-fact are then charged with the responsibility to determine the credibility or veracity of a witness' testimony.
Theories of truth
The study of truth is part of epistemology. Sentences, propositions, statements, ideas, beliefs, and judgments can be true, and are called truth bearers by philosophers. There are, roughly speaking, four broad theories about truth that philosophers and logicians have discussed. Each of these theories defines truth differently.
- The correspondence theory of truth defines truth as correspondence with reality.
- The deflationary theory of truth (also called the redundancy theory of truth) defines truth as a redundant logical function. Is true on this account means the same as is. To assert that a statement is true is just to assert the statement itself.
- The semantic theory of truth definies truth as a function in a metalanguage. It states that a sentence is true only if its translation is true in the metalanguage.
- The epistemic theories of truth define truth in epistemological terms, that is, in terms of what is known. There are three common variations of this theory:
- The coherence theory defines truth as coherence with some set of statements
- The consensus theory defines truth as something agreed upon by some social group.
- Pragmatism defines truth as the success of the practical consequences of an idea, i.e. its utility.
Truth in logic
- Logic
- Modal logic
- Truth conditions
- Truth function
- Truth table
- Truth value
Subjective, objective, relative and absolute truth
Subjective truths are those with which we are most intimately acquainted. That I like broccoli or that I have a pain in my foot are both subjectively true. Metaphysical subjectivism holds that all we have are such truths.
Objective truths are supposedly truths that are in some way observable or verifiable, and that thereby can take on a special status in arguments. Disputants are hopefully able to refer to objective truths in order to reach agreement — but see Confirmation holism. Perhaps the scientific method's success is based on objective truth. One piece of orphaned wisdom has described objective truth as "the god trick of seeing everything from nowhere".
Relative truths are statements or propositions that are true from some points of view, but not for others. Relativism is the doctrine that all truths are of this form. Its logical structure is dealt with in the article on the relativist fallacy. Moral relativism is the view that moral truths are socially determined. Subjectivism refers to an extreme form of relativism, in which all truth is held to be relative to the individual.
Absolute truths, for example: God is truth; I am the way, the truth and the light; Allahu Akbar are truths that are supposed to emanate from the very essence of the universe or God. As such they transcend human understanding, and are therefore unfortunately not subject to rational criticism. Surprisingly, one cannot find Absolute truth in the Wikipedia.
Other semantic uses
One can distinguish two uses for the word true. The first is most often applied to people, and is used as a commendation, as in she is true to her friends. The second has as its subject what has been called propositional content, as in it is true that the world is a sphere, and is used as an assertion. Most of the discussion in this article relates to truth as used in an assertion.
Quotations
- "To say of what is, that it is, or of what is not, that it is not, is true." - Aristotle in Metaphysics (Book 4)
- "Truth - Something somehow discreditable to someone." — H.L. Mencken
- "Truth exists - only lies are invented." — Georges Braque
- "To me, truth is not some vague, foggy notion. Truth is real. And, at the same time, unreal. Fiction and fact and everything in between, plus some things I can't remember, all rolled into one big 'thing'. This is truth, to me." — Jack Handey
- "Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." — Sherlock Holmes (in "A Scandal in Bohemia" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
- "What is truth?"Pontius Pilate,The gospel of John.
- "I am the truth and the light none come unto the Father except by me." Jesus Christ
- "What is truth? Said jesting Pilot, but would not stay for an answer" Francis Bacon, Essays1: Of Truth
Major philosophers who have worked with theories of truth
- Aristotle
- Alfred Ayer and Moritz Schlick with the Vienna Circle
- Edmund Gettier
- William James
- Karl Popper
- W. V. Quine
- Alfred Tarski
- Ludwig Wittgenstein
See also
References
- Blackburn, S and Simmons K. 1999. Truth. Oxford University Press. A good anthology of classic articles, including papers by James, Russell, Ramsey, Tarski and more recent work.
- Field, H. 2001. Truth and the Absence of Fact. Oxford.
- Horwich, P. Truth. Oxford.
- Habermas, Juergen. 2003. Truth and Justification. MIT Press.
- Kirkham, Richard 1992: Theories of Truth. Bradford Books. A very good reference book.
- http://www.ditext.com/tarski/tarski.html Tarski's classic 1944 paper on the Semantic Conception of Truth online.
- Williams, Bernard. 2002. Truth & Truthfulness: an essay in genealogy. Princeton University Press