NOTES FOR READING ON “TRUTH”

Three alternative theories on the nature of truth (there are others, but we’re sticking with these). Think of them as “Truth Tests.”

1) CORRESPONDENCE THEORY (Observational truths):

  • A statement is true if it corresponds to objective reality
  • An expression of truth states a fact or event that exists
  • A fact or event exists if it is affirmed by the experience of another human being
  • Observations are a sufficient basis for reporting truth

Example: We can all agree that we are currently in a classroom.

Critiques of Correspondence Theory

  • Visual discrepancies mean people can see different things (airplane vs. hawk)
  • Perception can be flawed/distorted (even if a majority of people perceive a certain thing they could still be wrong)
  • If two people insist in his/her own differing conviction, how can we arrive at truth?
  • Some areas do not have observable “facts” measurable by objective criteria: love, justice, existence of God, etc.
  • Theories such as evolution are hard to “observe” despite factual claims
  • No way to judge generalizations (of which most of our knowledge is composed)

2) COHERENCE THEORY(Logical truths fitting into an Existing Framework):

  • A truth is a property exhibited by a related group of consistent propositions
  • A statement is true if it is integrated with other established statements and doesn’t contradict them
  • Described as the “hang-together” theory

Example: Your mother wakes you up an hour earlier than usual to tell you that there’s a python in the toilet so you have to get up and out of your room.

You sleepily consider the following:

i) pythons likely can’t come up toilet plumbing

ii) Ottawa isn’t a python’s natural habitat

iii) there are no zoos close by

iv) your mother would be in more of a panic if there really were a python in the bathroom

AND, likely most convincingly,

v) your mother thinks you should get up earlier than you normally do.

Your mother’s proposition fails to cohere with many other things that you have good reason to believe are true. You therefore go back to sleep after telling your mother to go away.

Critiques of Coherence Theory

  • Sometimes relies of beginning postulates or assumptions whose truth cannot necessarily be proven
  • Similarly, the initial postulate cannot be proven true under this system as it relies on a framework that comes after the initial proposition
  • Religious and Scientific world views are examples of quite coherent frameworks but many feel they express irreconcilable contradictions (Are they really irreconcilable? – See “Evolution and Catholicism Compatible, Pope Says” article.)

3) PRAGMATIC THEORY (What is true is What Works):

  • Truth defined only in terms of consequences
  • A statement is true if it accurately describes a situation or a relationship on which a person can act to achieve a desired result
  • Human centred / human beings create truth (highly relativistic)
  • It is judged in terms of its effectiveness in assisting people to integrate their knowledge, predict events, or achieve a goal
  • Not at all concerned with absolute or ultimate truth(s)
  • Continuously shaped by human thought and action

Example: Theory of personality development; democracy.

Critiques of Pragmatic Theory

  • People are dissatisfied with viewing truths as tentative and changeable
  • There is no security or hope in this form of truth because it is not grounded in the nature of things
  • No necessary connection between what is ultimately true and what happens to work at a given time
  • Truth cannot be based on fallible judgements of finite beings
  • Some might accept “what is true works” while still rejecting “what works is true”