ToK - Truth Does truth matter?

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Subjective truth Objective truth Provisional truth Absolute truth ToK - Truth Subjective truth Objective truth Provisional truth Absolute truth

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Does the word truth mean the same thing in each of these cases: ToK - Truth Does the word truth mean the same thing in each of these cases: It is the truth that a triangle has 3 sides. ‘There is ice at the North Pole’ is the truth. There is real truth in that painting. Ain’t that the truth! This scripture is God’s truth.

“Truth is what stands the test of time” Einstein ToK - Truth “Truth is what stands the test of time” Einstein “A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it.” Wilde “Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.” Einstein

How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? ToK - Truth How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four: calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg

ToK - Truth “The truth, of course, is that a billion falsehoods told a billion times by a billion people are still false.” Travis Walton

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What does it mean to say something is true? ToK - Truth What does it mean to say something is true?

Why? To say something “is true” ToK - Truth To say something “is true” is much less problematic than to say it is “the truth”. Why?

There are three main theories of what is meant by “x is true”.... ToK - Truth There are three main theories of what is meant by “x is true”....

i. Correspondence Theory: (Going and looking) ToK - Truth i. Correspondence Theory: (Going and looking)

ToK - Truth ''A true proposition must correspond to or match a state of affairs in the world.”

Directions - True Distances - True Shapes - True Areas - True ToK - Truth Directions - True Distances - True Shapes - True Areas - True

It corresponds to the real world - ToK - Truth Great circles—The shortest distance between any two points on the surface of the Earth can be found quickly and easily along a great circle. Parallels are parallel and spaced equally on meridians. Meridians and other arcs of great circles are straight lines (if looked at perpendicularly to the Earth's surface). Meridians converge toward the poles and diverge toward the Equator. It corresponds to the real world - it is true and accurate

Mercator’s Projection ToK - Truth Mercator’s Projection Easier to use but how well does it correspond to reality?

ii. Coherence Theory: (Sitting and thinking) ToK - Truth ii. Coherence Theory: (Sitting and thinking)

ToK - Truth According to this view, a proposition is true if it is consistent with all the other propositions we hold.

we do not accept the argument as true. ToK - Truth When the pieces of an argument do not fit together they are incoherent – we do not accept the argument as true.

If the pieces fit together they are coherent - ToK - Truth If the pieces fit together they are coherent - like the pieces of a Jigsaw Puzzle

ToK - Truth Coherent - but......

iii. Pragmatism (does it work?) ToK - Truth iii. Pragmatism (does it work?)

ToK - Truth This is a method of philosophy in which the meaning of an idea is to be found in an examination of the consequences to which it would lead (C. S. Peirce)

ToK - Truth and the truth of a proposition is measured by its practical outcome – i.e. by its consequences rather than its origin.

ToK - Truth Thus pragmatists hold that truth is not absolute, but modified as discoveries are made, and that it is therefore relative to the time, place and purpose of inquiry.

A proposition is true if it works or is useful in practice ToK - Truth A proposition is true if it works or is useful in practice

Examples of beliefs..... 1. true and useful? 2. true but not useful? ToK - Truth Examples of beliefs..... 1. true and useful? 2. true but not useful? 3. not useful and not true?

ToK - Truth Theory Criticisms Correspondence A proposition is true if it corresponds to a fact 1.The correspondence theory requires the existence of all sorts of ghostly facts to which true statements are supposed to correspond 2. Since there is a gap between language and the world, correspondence can never be perfect 3. We cannot determine the truth or falsity of a proposition in isolation from other propositions Coherence A proposition is true if it fits in with our overall set of beliefs 1. Coherence is not sufficient for truth. A fairy tale may be perfectly coherent, but it is still a fairy tale. 2. With a little ingenuity, any crazy belief can be made to appear coherent. 3. A knowledge claim that does not fit in with your way of thinking might still be true. Pragmatic A proposition is true if it is useful or works in practice 1. A proposition can be true but not useful, and useful but not true. 2. Pragmatic theory implies that two contradictory beliefs could both be true. 3. ‘Useful’ and ‘works in practice’ are too vague to get us very far.

Other theories and approaches: ToK - Truth Other theories and approaches:

ToK - Truth According to ‘Perspectivism' and ‘Phenomenology' there is no one truth or reality

A cubist approach to truth … ToK - Truth A cubist approach to truth … To know what is true we need to look at many different perspectives and try to combine them in a coherent way that corresponds to reality

ToK - Truth There are also those who are, to a greater or lesser degree, doubtful of our ability to attain the truth, and therefore of the possibility of any knowledge: this kind of critical outlook is called ‘Scepticism‘.

ToK - Truth Relativism - argues that there is (or, we can have) nothing other than our different outlooks

ToK - Truth Instead of trying to give and use a definition of absolute or universal truth, we can only study how the concept of truth has been and is being used in particular societies. Foucault

“Keep the company of those who seek the truth, and run away from those ToK - Truth “Keep the company of those who seek the truth, and run away from those who have found it” Havel