Re: The Truth about Truth

Aaron’s post was all about coherence theory, and trying to rationalize its purpose. Truth goes beyond statements -- residing also in situations. If that is understood and the same theories are applied, then the coherence theory makes more sense. The coherence theory is based on relativity, and is important in aspects of everyday life such as conformity. Take for example an instrumental ensemble. In this ensemble there is a clarinet who is playing their Concert A in perfect pitch (440 vibrations per minute), yet the rest of the ensemble is a little flat. According to the coherence theory of truth, the fact that the clarinet is playing in tune is false because they are out of tune with the rest of the ensemble. According to the corresponding theory of truth, the clarinet is in tune, but everyone else is flat. When it comes to real world situations like the above mentioned, correspondence theory loses its luster – it doesn’t matter if the clarinet is in tune, because they are sharper than the rest of the ensemble!

If one person is right according to the way the world is and everyone else is wrong, then wrong is what is right and what is really right is wrong. (In the eyes of society.) In the words of Jack Johnson, “It’s all relative.” Of course I am not saying that it is a good thing in all cases, or even that it applies in all cases, but it surely does occur. Another example is the statement, “ the snow is white” it does not matter if the snow really is white, because ‘white’ is what we call the absence of color and snow is what we know to be white.

Aaron claimed, “…In spite of whatever we know to be objective, we all perceive the world with bias, however slight or negligible we may train it to be.” That may be true, but there is also an objective bias, a bias our society perceives the world by that has been shaped over time. That bias is what we live by; that bias is coherence. That being said, are the objective and subjective biases we percieve, along with corresponding truth, a blend that makes our reality?

Knowledge vs. Belief

In class yesterday we briefly mentioned Knowledge vs. Belief. To my opinion, belief is one's subjective faith in something that they are convinced is true. Belief requires faith because it does not involve fact. Knowledge on the other hand does not require faith because it does involve fact. Knowledge is an obtained concept of an objective fact. Knowledge is discovered truth. In our society we up hold knowledge higher than belief because whom ever knows more is considered wiser. Is that true? Is the knower wiser than the believer?