The great enemy of truth is not the lie…but the myth. –John F. Kennedy
After reading my entries ‘The Lies We Tell’ a regular reader, Steve, wondered if there are a number of ways of telling the truth. In our country, when one is in court and is called to the witness stand and is sworn in one is asked to tell the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So what is truth? Perhaps our friend the dictionary can help us.
Truth Defined. Truth is the state of being the case: fact; the body of real things, events and facts: actuality; a transcendent fundamental or spiritual reality; fidelity to a standard.
We bandy this little word about a lot without paying too much attention to what it means. ‘Truth’ even forms part of our definition of knowledge – ‘justified, true belief.’ But here I sit wondering what this little word ‘truly’ means AND how can we know it when we see it, hear it spoken, or experience it in action? I don’t think that this is a silly nor inconsequential question.
How many different ways do we use this word truth? Here are some examples (and Gentle Reader I invite you to add to this short list) – notice how the idea of truth varies in each statement:
- He is a true friend
- He has remained true to his beliefs
- I love you, truly I do
- She is wearing true diamonds
- That is a true replica of a Green Bay Packers football jersey
- That door is not hanging true
- He did not stay true to his commitment
It quickly becomes clear that there are many different uses of the word true. It is synonymous with many other words – genuine, faithful, loyal, original, honest, etc. This is not surprising for words that are important, like true, often represent a number of different ideas or concepts.
What is truth? There are four theories of truth – or ‘truth tests’ – that might help us as we embrace this question. The four are: The Correspondence Theory of Truth, The Coherence Theory of Truth, The Consensus Theory of Truth, and The Pragmatic Theory of Truth. Let us take a brief – a very brief – look at each of these.
The Correspondence Theory of Truth. This theory of truth asks whether the proposition matches up to what we know/experience via our five senses to be true. For example: I go to a football game and afterwards I claim that a certain player was playing in the game. My claim is based upon my being present at the game and then my seeing said player on the field participating in the game – my senses confirm the truth of my claim. This theory of truth ‘demands’ that I rely on my own personal experience to be able to discern whether a truth is afoot or not.
The Coherence Theory of Truth. This theory of truth relies on the proposition fitting in with what we know to make sense. If I had made the knowledge claim that the football player was playing in the game on Sunday without having been at the game and observing him playing in the game, then my claim would have been made based on other pieces of information that makes my claim to be a claim of truth. Perhaps I knew he was ready to play; perhaps I heard the coach in a pre-game interview tell us that he was going to play; perhaps my friend, who was at the game, told me he played. This theory of truth ‘demands’ that I use information not acquired through my personal experience to ‘logically’ reach a truth-full conclusion.
There are two additional theories that we will briefly explore in ‘Part II’ – I am being truthful when I tell you this; honestly I am going to be true to my word (or not – we will see next time).
The truth is found when men are free to pursue it. –Franklin D. Roosevelt
Searcher-Seeker 