Truth Flashcards
Coherence Theory of Truth
A belief or statement is true if it is consistent with other beliefs or statements
The problem with this view is that something can be consistent but false.
Example 1 A court case where all evidence points to one suspect, but the suspect was set up. The evidence is consistent with the suspect having committed the crime, but he is innocent
Example 2: You can have two totally internally consistent world views, that contradict each other
Example 3: Flat earthers have many other beliefs that are consistent with their world view, namely that the earth is flat. They also believe that the sun rotates in a circle above the earth, and that we are all stuck to the surface of the earth due to magnetism. These beliefs, although consistent with each other, are all clearly false
Although the coherence theory is helpful, it is not enough to explain truth.
Pragmatic Theory of Truth
Something is true if it produces a desirable effect. Truth is what works
This is problematic, because some beliefs are useful, but not true, and others are not useful, while true
Some useful beliefs
There is no such thing as failure, only feedback
While useful for helping people deal with failure, or to motivate people to keep going despite failure, No one wouldn’t say that the “Fire” festival wasn’t a failure, in fact if only the fire festival organizer would have quit, what was clearly going to be a disaster, he would have saved himself jail time, and bankruptcy, instead his hopeless optimism destroyed him. Some failures are impossible to recover from.
Correspondence Theory of Truth
A statement of belief is true if it corresponds with reality. Truth is when you describe it the way the world is.
What is is, and what isn’t isn’t, saying what isn’t is is false, and saying what is isn’t is also false - Aristotle
Subjective Truth
subjective Truth claims are entirely determined by the subject, they are subjective, private, personal, and the truth depends on the subject.
It’s true for the person making the claim. It is a matter of opinion
Example: Vanilla is the best flavour ice-cream.
But when faced with a question like “What medicine should I take to control my type 1 diabetes?”, Opinions have little to no value,, because the fact of the matter is that only insulin can control type 1 diabetes, It is true for everyone regardless of their opinion.
It is a different kind of claim because it has consequences, and my feelings or preferences will not change the facts of the situation
Are moral claims objective truth claims? or is morality relative
Moral laws are objective realities that exist independent of our own personal preferences.
CS lewis makes this point clear when he says “My argument against God was that the universe seems cruel and unjust. But how had I go tthis Idea of Just and Unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some Idea of a straight line. What was i comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? OF course I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private Idea or my onw. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too, for the argument depended on saying that the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my fancies.”
Basically the Moral relativist cannot complain about evil as evil is merely a matter of opinion for them, and does not exist.
What example is often used in an attempt to support religious pluralism or universalism?
The fable of the 6 blind men and the elephant
the fable is used to illustrate that all religions are true in that they each have a “part” of the whole truth.
However this parable fails as it exempts itself from its own theory, as it itself claims to have the whole true, that it is itself able to see the whole (objectivist) elephant and that it is everybody else that is blind or pluralists.
How did Jesus view Truth
Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, the life, no one comes to the father, but through me”
Jesus did not say: “I am one possible way, one possible truth, one possible life, I am one of many possible ways to the Father.
Jesus taught that the truth is exclusive.
