What is Truth?

On 29th April at 7 pm over a drink at the Lower Red Lion, Fishpool St, sixteen of us like-minded people got together to discuss the concept of truth. Of course, we did not come to a definitive answer as that is not the practice of philosophy, but we did have an interesting and entertaining debate. Here is my summary:

The concept of "truth" has been debated by philosophers and thinkers for centuries, and there's no single, universally accepted definition. However, here's a breakdown of some key aspects:

Core Concepts:

• Correspondence to Reality: 

  • Often, truth is understood as the agreement between a statement or belief and the actual state of affairs. This is known as the "correspondence theory of truth." Essentially, if a statement matches reality, it's considered true.

• Factuality: 

  • Truth is closely linked to facts. A fact is something that is indisputably the case (though that begs several questions), and a true statement aligns with those facts.

• Verity: 

  • This term emphasises the quality of being true, accurate, or correct.

Different Perspectives:

• Philosophical Theories: 

  • Philosophers have developed various theories of truth, including:

    • Correspondence theory: As mentioned, truth is correspondence with reality – the basis of science.

    • Coherence theory: Truth is the consistency of a statement with a system of other statements  - 2+2 = 4

    • Pragmatic theory: Truth is what works or is useful – we have survived through evolution.

• Subjective vs. Objective Truth: 

  • "Objective truth" exists independently of individual opinions or beliefs – the sun moves across the sky each day.

  • "Subjective truth" is based on personal feelings, experiences, or interpretations - religious beliefs.

• Contextual Truth: 

  • The idea that the truth of something can depend on the context in which it is presented  - the criminal has a history of burglary.

·         Deflationism:

o    Minimalist – avoids big questions. Cf Pontius Pilate’s question to Jesus, “What is Truth?” (John 18.38)   – the wrong question, the right question is: “Are you guilty of breaking the law?”

o    Redundancy –“it is true or not true”

·         Scepticism:

o    There is no theory of truth – but this is itself a theory!

In essence:

• Truth is generally understood as the quality of being in accordance with fact or reality.

• However, the precise nature of truth is a complex and ongoing philosophical discussion.

Please feel free to comment.

Our next topic is going to be What is Love? . The date is yet to be decided, but we generally meet quarterly, so we are looking at a date in July.