Truth

[AlphaFemme]

The meaning of the word truth extends from honesty, good faith, and sincerity in general, to agreement with fact or reality in particular. The term has no single definition about which the majority of professional philosophers and scholars agree. Various theories of truth continue to be debated. There are differing claims on such questions as what constitutes truth; how to define and identify truth; the roles that revealed and acquired knowledge play; and whether truth is subjective, relative, objective, or absolute.

Here is a summary list of a few theories of truth:

1. Correspondence - claim that true beliefs and true statements correspond to the actual state of affairs. This type of theory attempts to posit a relationship between thoughts or statements on the one hand, and things or objects on the other.

2. Coherence - In general, truth requires a proper fit of elements within a whole system. Very often, though, coherence is taken to imply something more than simple logical consistency; often there is a demand that the propositions in a coherent system lend mutual inferential support to each other.

3. Constructive - truth is constructed by social processes, is historically and culturally specific, and that it is in part shaped through the power struggles within a community. Constructivism views all of our knowledge as "constructed," because it does not reflect any external "transcendent" realities (as a pure correspondence theory might hold).

4. Minimalism - A number of philosophers reject the thesis that the concept or term truth refers to a real property of sentences or propositions. These philosophers are responding, in part, to the common use of truth predicates (e.g., that some particular thing "...is true") which was particularly prevalent in philosophical discourse on truth in the first half of the 20th century. From this point of view, to assert the proposition '2 + 2 = 4' is true is logically equivalent to asserting the proposition 2 + 2 = 4, and the phrases true is completely dispensable in this and every other context.

This may be a bit deep for bbs, but I hope not. I'd just like to hear your opinions.

[Luke]

...Fascinating.

[NonPlusUltra]

The truth is ...

[Fleuve]

Truth is subjective to those individuals who view it.

Take science and religion for example..

[Skrupsakken]

My brain hurts..

[MultiCanimefan]

At 1/7/11 12:11 PM, AlphaFemme wrote:

This may be a bit deep for bbs, but I hope not. I'd just like to hear your opinions.

The medium through which a truth is expressed has no bearing on said truth. But the sarcasm will arrive, without fail, certainly.

[AlphaFemme]

Not even sarcasm, it just went no where.

[MultiCanimefan]

Don't worry, http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/3711 07

[AlphaFemme]

Thanks for the link, it's something at least!

Frustration of being a lot different from the average user here is setting in. I wish I didn't enjoy coming to NG, I'd be a bit better off!

[MultiCanimefan]

At 1/7/11 02:13 PM, AlphaFemme wrote:

Frustration of being a lot different from the average user here is setting in.

I can relate entirely.

[Evark]

Probably not getting much in the way of interesting responses 'cause you just kinda present something and open-endedly asking to talk about it. Kinda like a vague, "here's a news article... discuss." deal.

Anyway, I think I personally agree much more with the coherence and correspondence theories of truth. Correspondence much more strongly than coherence. I tend to hold that truth isn't subject to the whims of those who communicate it, and it makes more sense to me that there would be a corresponding object or situation that determines something's truth.

For instance, Moslem extremists hold that western culture is evil. To them that is truth. Western ideology holds that our culture is technologically and socially enlightened and the very pinnacle of progress. These two truths conflict with each other, so in a correspondence sense one would be more true than the other. However, taken in part with the coherence theory, you would have to agree that either side would be true to some and false to others. Leaving two truths in disagreement with each other.

The more I think about it, though, the less it really matters to me which of the two is the 'correct' truth.

Really, I think it boils down to the type of truth you are seeking. I don't think, for instance, coherence truth is effective when it comes to scientific theory. I think that would rely much more heavily on correspondent truth. Yet, in social and political realms, it makes much more sense to rely on a coherence logic to truth.

As for minimalist... I'm guess I don't really understand it's value beyond it just drops the usage of declaring something is true by nature of the fact that the very declaration itself is (in and of itself) a declaration that said statement is true.

Constructivist truth theory I would tend to disagree with. Yes, it does make sense that truths of that nature would occur, but... hmm.

Well, now that I've kind brainstormed and thought through each, I guess my response is as follows:

Truth is filtered necessarily as a result of the reality of its application. For instance, I think ideal truth is correspondence truth, in that there is an immutable 'fact' to a declaration that makes it true. Moving away from the ideal is coherence truth, which is the result of factoring in the reality of collective thought and opinion. There isn't an individual consensus, so to ignore that reality is to diminish the value of any correspondent truth. Coherence would account for this. Constructivist truth, I suppose, would take into account that such a fragmentation of a collective understanding lends itself to nodes of larger influence. For instance, when the President says "we are under attack" it holds a lot more weight than when the homeless man with a cardboard sign declares such. Thus, truth is subject to the construction of those who wield the most influence conveying it.

So, I would say that the truest of true is that which is correspondent, less true is coherence, even less true is constructivist, and minimalism is annoying.

[Chronamut]

At 1/7/11 02:13 PM, AlphaFemme wrote: Thanks for the link, it's something at least!

Frustration of being a lot different from the average user here is setting in. I wish I didn't enjoy coming to NG, I'd be a bit better off!

you and me both girl - I've seen a ton of well constructed and insightful posts die with 0 posts simply because people aren't deep, intelligent, or old enough to post anythnig useful in them. Because most people of that intellect or age either left newgrounds long ago, dwell in other forums, or never came to newgrounds to begin with.