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  • Essay / Theories of Truth - 1004

    Truth is often something people take for granted. We believe that because we witness or experience something, it is true. A colorblind person may see a red table as gray and say that the table is gray, claiming that this is the truth even when everyone else states that the table is red. As humans, we tend to base the truth on our personal experience, even if we are wrong. In fact, even the majority of members of a community have been mistaken about the truth. A few centuries ago, it was believed that the world was flat and that if you sailed far enough, you would literally fall off the edge of the Earth. As absurd as this may seem today, in the past it was considered an undeniable truth. Interestingly, this also happens with less material truths. Take, for example, the moral concepts of slavery. In recent history, our so-called truth on the subject has changed dramatically. Whereas previously slavery was considered the norm, even a right (based on a belief in superiority), today it is vehemently rejected. For this reason, the human idea of ​​truth is constantly evolving. It could be argued that we don't know what is true and what is not. Indeed, our history supports such a claim, given how often we contradict our own beliefs that we assume to be true. So what is the most acceptable theory of truth? It may not be any of the four: correspondence, consistency, pragmatic and deflationary. Each undeniably has gaping flaws that prevent the theory from providing an explanation of the truth. Take, for example, the correspondence theory according to which a truth must correspond to a fact. First, we need to define what a fact is. Maybe a definition is something that can be physically verified and is always the case. So what about moral truths? Correspondence theory...... middle of paper ......ll, or is pragmatist theory correct? Perhaps then, pragmatist theory is closest to the way humans behave, even if the way we behave is not always consistent with some ultimate truth. Ultimately, no current definition of truth satisfies me. I can't even convince myself of my own beliefs about the truth; there is always a contradiction and a flaw. Perhaps the question of everyday life is not that of truths, but that of good. That is, we must focus on the well-being of ourselves, others, humanity and the world. Of course, there is the insatiable curiosity that inhabits humans and, in particular, philosophers. We seek the truth even if it eludes us effortlessly and for this reason we cannot reject it so easily. It is an integral part of our life; after all, if we find the truth, we will also be able to answer many other philosophical questions, even about the meaning of humanity..