Fact–value distinctionįurther information: Scientific method and Philosophy of science The verifiable accuracy of all of these assertions, if facts themselves, may coincide to create the fact that Paris is the capital of France.ĭifficulties arise, however, in attempting to identify the constituent parts of negative, modal, disjunctive, or moral facts. For example, the fact described by the true statement " Paris is the capital city of France" implies that there is such a place as Paris, there is such a place as France, there are such things as capital cities, as well as that France has a government, that the government of France has the power to define its capital city, and that the French government has chosen Paris to be the capital, that there is such a thing as a place or a government, and so on. Compound factsĪny non-trivial true statement about reality is necessarily an abstraction composed of a complex of objects and properties or relations. If this argument holds, and facts are taken to be what true statements stand for, then we reach the counter-intuitive conclusion that there is only one fact- the truth.
The Slingshot argument claims to show that all true statements stand for the same thing-the truth value true. This theory presupposes the existence of an objective world. Pascal Engel's version of the correspondence theory of truth explains that what makes a sentence true is that it corresponds to a fact. Correspondence and the slingshot argument The statement "Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system" is about the fact Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Facts may also be understood as those things to which a true sentence refers. įacts may be understood as information that makes a true sentence true. A "fact" can be defined as something that is the case-that is, a state of affairs. Questions of objectivity and truth are closely associated with questions of fact. In philosophy, the concept fact is considered in epistemology and ontology. Roger Bacon wrote "If in other sciences we should arrive at certainty without doubt and truth without error, it behooves us to place the foundations of knowledge in mathematics." In philosophy įacts may be checked by reason, experiment, personal experience, or may be argued from authority. This use is reflected in the terms "fact-find" and "fact-finder" (e.g., "set up a fact-finding commission"). įact may also indicate findings derived through a process of evaluation, including review of testimony, direct observation, or otherwise as distinguishable from matters of inference or speculation. This alternate usage, although contested by some, has a long history in standard English. Īlternatively, fact may also indicate an allegation or stipulation of something that may or may not be a true fact, (e.g., "the author's facts are not trustworthy"). The term fact also indicates a matter under discussion deemed to be true or correct, such as to emphasize a point or prove a disputed issue (e.g., ". the fact of the matter is. The common usage of "something that has really occurred or is the case" dates from the mid-16th century. The word fact derives from the Latin factum, and was first used in English with the same meaning: "a thing done or performed" – a meaning now obsolete. 2.1 Correspondence and the slingshot argument.
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