DETERMINING

TRUTH
LESSON 3 : INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF
THE HUMAN PERSON
•The first concept about
truth is rooted in an
ancient Greek
philosophy’s concept of
knowledge as “Justified,
true belief” truth with
justification.
Theories of knowledge
and truth
The correspondence
theory states that
something is true if it
corresponds to reality or
the actual state of
affair.
•This theory assumes a
direct relationship
between an idea and
reality and that a
statement can be taken
as a “fact”
Correspondence Theory
•For example, the
statement: A mammal
is an animal which is
warm –blooded, has
hair, and feeds its
young with milk”
•We expect in
correspondence objects
and concepts are
defined as they are in
real life.
The Coherence Theory
Coherence theory proposes
that something is true if it
makes sense when placed in
a certain situation or context.
Based on this perspective,
there is a possibility that
there will be varied “truths”
from different perspective.
• For example : Muslims have a
belief that certain animals like
pigs are unclean. For
Muslims, this fact prevent
them from eating pork and
other types of food made from
unclean animals. The belief
that eating pork will render
them unclean makes sense in
the context of islamic faith.
Relativism is a philosophical
concept which contends that
there are no absolute truths.
An idea or principle is only
true within a particular
context, and thus it is
possible for alternative truth
to exist in various contexts or
situation.
The Constructivist
theory holds that
knowledge is shaped by
social forces and
influenced by culture and
history. What is true, or
what a person considers
true, is shaped by his
society and culture.
• For example: How different
societies consider marriage.
Marriage is highly important
social institution. It is not
merely a union of individuals
but a merging of families. In
our tradition and reflected in
laws that family is considers as
“the foundation of the nation”
as stated in the 1987
Constitution.
•Our government has
long been resistant to
recognizing divorce as
a legitimate means to
end marriage, as
society assigns great
value to the sanctity of
marriage.
•In other countries,
particularly in the West,
marriage is viewed as a
contract between two
consenting adults, in
most cases, such union
can be nullified through
lawful means.
The Consensus Theory
Consensus theory views knowledge
as based on agreement, and that
something is true if almost everyone
agrees that it is true. Certain beliefs,
traditions, and practices are often the
product of consensus as they may be
imposed by influential groups or
institution, government, religious
organizations.
• An example of consensus
influencing knowledge is the
decision of the International
Astronomical Union in 2006 to
change the planet Pluto ‘s
classification into a “drawf
planet.” This decision, however
was controversial and a
number of astronomers voiced
their opposition to Pluto’s new
designation.
The Pragmatic Theory holds t
Pragmatic Theory holds
the view that something
is true if we can put it
into practices or is useful
in real life. It also
believes that idea should
be continually tested to
confirm their validity.
 A related theory, is
verificationism, considers
that ideas must be verified
using the senses or
experience. The scientific
method, where
experiments are designed
to test hypotheses or
confirm conclusions
• Example: The pragmatic theory
was used in the study of yellow
fever during the late 19th century.
This disease was first thought to be
transmitted through the air. This
idea, however was refuted in 1886
by Dr. Carlos Finlay, a Cuban
doctor. Based on his examination
of tissue samples from victims,
Finlay believed that disease
affected the blood and that
mosquitoes were its carriers.
• In 1898, during the Spanish –American
War, many American soldiers died
from yellow fever and a team of army
doctors were sent to Cuba to
investigate the disease. One of the
members of the team, dr. Jesse Lazear,
heard of Finlay’ theory and decided to
test it. He had mosquitoes hatched
and fed with blood samples infected
with yellow fever. The he had himself
and other volunteers bitten by the
mosquitoes. They proved that the
mosquitoes were indeed the carriers of
the disease.