Truth

and
Reality
 What is truth?
 Skepticism asks, what if we are deeply deceived about the
world? What if the world is not real?

 “What is truth?” asks what does it mean for the world to be

real? What does it mean for the statement “I am in this
classroom” to be true? What does it mean for “I am not
dreaming right now” to be true?
 What is truth?
“There is no truth. There is only perception.” Gustave Flaubert
Gandhi

“Truth stands, even if there be no public support. It is self-sustained.” Mohandas Gandhi

“The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end;
there it is.” Winston Churchill

“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the
truth.” Marcus Aurelius

“Truth, like light, blinds. Falsehood, on the contrary, is a beautiful twilight that enhances
every object.” Albert Camus
Relativism vs. absolutism
Absolutism: truth is independent of our knowledge and beliefs.

Relativism: there is no absolute truth. What is true for me may be false for
you. Truth is a construction and every person may construct truth
differently. Every person’s version of truth is equally legitimate.

 The paradox of relativism.

 Truth is relative to the speaker/believer.

 No statement is necessarily true or false to all speakers/believers.
 “Truth is relative” is a statement.
 “Truth is relative” is not true for everybody.
 “There are absolute truths” is not false for everybody.
 “Truth is relative” is a self-defeating statement. If it is true, it is not true for
everybody. If its true, its opposite is also true (for some people).
Relativism about morality
Absolutism: Kant, utilitarianism
It’s wrong because it is against God’s law, or it harms people or it harms the
earth/the universe, etc.

Relativism: Sartre

There are no objective moral truths. Jean-Paul Sartre

 Paradox: I cannot say that you views are wrong, even if you believe that there
are moral truths and that I am absolutely wrong.

 Solution? It is objectively true that there are no moral truths. It is

subjectively true (true to me) that murdering innocent babies is wrong, and
since it is morally wrong to me, then I am justified (to myself) in imposing
my moral views on you.
The correspondence theory of truth
A statement is true if it corresponds to reality, i.e. to the facts.

“Joe Black owns a sword” is true if Joe Black exists and if a

sword exists and if Joe Black owns the sword.

Problem: what is reality? What does it mean for Joe Black to

exist, for a sword to exist, etc.
Reality
 Philosophical realism: objects exist and are the cause of our
perceptions (one of the causes: an object plus our minds cause
perception of an object)

 Descartes: how can we know if the world really exists? Maybe it exists
and maybe it doesn’t. Maybe the world is real but maybe we are
deceived.

 Berkeley: there is no mind-independent world.

Objects only exist when they are perceived.

Berkeley

Question: does a virtual sword exist? Is it real?

The coherence theory of truth
 A belief is true if and only if it is part of a coherent system of beliefs.

 Truths do not exist independently of each other. Truths cohere together

systematically to create a whole that makes sense.

 All beliefs that work together without contradicting each other are true.

Question: if two stories/systems of explaining the world are both internally

coherent but contradict each other, can both be true?

Question: is a virtual sword real if it is part of a coherent system

of virtual swords/virtual knights/virtual dragons, etc.?
 Pragmatism
 C.S. Peirce, William James

 Truth is what works.

 True beliefs enable us to make accurate predictions. As long as a prediction

based on a statement always works out, the statement is true.

 Science works so it is more true than myths and legends.

Question: if I believe a virtual sword is real, and use this belief to make
accurate predictions about how to use the sword, is my belief true?
The Matrix (again)

Is the simulated world of the Matrix real? Are beliefs about

this world true?

According to:

Correspondence theory?
Coherence theory?
Pragmatism?
 Nietzsche

Truth is part of the “will to power”. Truth is useful if it

promotes and enhances life, but a life-enhancing
falsehood is better than a truth that undermines life.

"The falseness of a judgment is to us not necessarily an

objection to a judgment... The question is to what
extent it is life-advancing, life-preserving, species-
preserving, perhaps even species-breeding...“ Friedrich
Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil
Does truth matter?
Is truth a value in and of itself, i.e. an intrinsic good?

Or does truth have only an instrumental value, i.e. it is good insomuch as

it leads us to success in predicting and interacting with the world,
which is good insomuch as it makes us happy or fulfilled or satisfied?

Would you rather live a happy lie than face a miserable truth?

Is it morally wrong to prefer happiness or contentment to truth?

Is it morally wrong to lie to others to make them happy?

Are the occasional benefits of being deceived necessarily short-lived? (i.e.

the truth will out, and the sooner we face it the better off we will be)
Suggested readings

 Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, entry on “Truth” at:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/truth

 Friedrich Neitzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, Part 1 “On the

prejudices of philosophers”, on reserve in the Philosophy
Department Office