PHILOSOPHY Structure of the Belief

The value of Truth “S Believes that P is true” where;

How many in the past have you experienced asking S is the person and P is the representation of the Belief
questions? Being given an answer then doubting or the Object
whether the answer given to you is true? Or did you
readily accept the answer? Example: Lily believes she is in Batangas City

In this lesson you will learn the nature of truth and why S- is Lily
it is a subject of philosophical concern. You will also
P – is the truth condition that Lily believes that she’s in
learn things being valued as truth or distinguished as
Batangas as represented by proposition that Lily is
opinion.
situated 112 kilometers south of Rizal Monument in
The Nature of Belief Luneta.

 Defined by Oxford Dictionary refers to the The Nature of Truth

acceptance that the statement is true or that
What is truth?
something exists
How will you determine if your beliefs are true?
 Firmly held opinion or conviction
Here are some theories that will help you understand
 In epistemology, philosophers use the term
the nature of truth and how each theory is used to
"belief" to refer to attitudes about the world
determine the truth of beliefs.
which can be either true or false.
Correspondence Theory of Truth
 Dictionary considered it as synonymous to
opinion.  The key to truth is the relation between
propositions and the world, which means that a
Forms of Representation of Belief
belief is true if there exist an appropriate entity
 Qualitative Form refers to the quality of object a fact to which it corresponds. If there is no
of your belief such entity, the belief is false.

Example: The table is wooden (Quality of the object Example: There is a water fountain in front of
you believe) the Cultural Center of the Philippines

 Quantitative Form refers to the quantitative  The Correspondence Theory of Truth compares
character of your belief the given proposition or truth conditions or the
state of the affairs that will make the
Example: That wooden table will last for the next ten proposition true. Thus for the above to be true,
years (Quantitative character of your belief) there must be a fact in the world where:

The Object of Belief a. There is such a thing as water fountain

 The object of the belief is called proposition b. There is place called Cultural Center of the
which is the representation of the fact found in Philippines
the world or truth conditions about the world.
c. The water fountain is in front of Cultural Center
 Propositions refer to a linguistic statement of the Philippines
which can be either true or false, but in
philosophy it refers exclusively to the non- Coherence Theory of Truth
linguistic meaning of the statement.
 It states that the truth of any (true) proposition
consists in its coherence with some specified
sets of propositions. This means that the truth
conditions of the proposition are based on
 other propositions as opposed to the is unclear since its meaning changes depending on
correspondence theory. when it is stated.

 The truthfulness therefore of a person’s Shortcomings of the Theories of Truth

judgement is based on his statement’s
coherence to a certain set of established beliefs.  Coherence Theory is criticized for its
vulnerability that clarifies the notion of
Coherence Theory of Truth consistency.

 People have different cultures and traditions, it What is really meant by cohere?
goes to show that what may be true to one
culture or society may not be true to others. If truth is about the significant whole, what
There is a possibility of different truths from does this truly cover?
different perspective.
Is truth a compendium of truths? What makes
 Example: The proposition “Pigs are unclean truth true?
animals” is true to the Muslim community,
 Pragmatic Theory of truth, the expediency
However, that truth for the Muslims is not
seems to imply the relativity of truth. What is
shared by the Christians.
useful to one person might not be useful to
Pragmatic Theory of Truth another.

 It holds that proposition is true if it is useful to Is truth relative?

believe it. Thus utility is the essential mark of
What is your reaction when other people are giving
truth. Truth is arrived at based on beliefs that
opinion about you?
best pay off gives the best advantage or
ultimate benefits or promote successes. Opinion’s Purpose
 Philosophers who subscribe to the pragmatic  Rene Descartes, a rationalist philosopher
criterion consider truth as what is expedient. claimed, we have the obligation to withhold
assent from all propositions who truth we do
Pragmatic Theory of Truth
not clearly and distinctly perceived.
Example: A dream board is necessary for dreams to
 It may be permissible and prudent to form a
come true
mere opinion (opinion).
Under the pragmatic theory of truth, the given
 If truth cannot be achieved, prudence is
proposition is true if it leads to success that, if it is
exercise thru having an opinion.
expedient for the person to believe that his dreams or
her dreams will come true with visualization. If on the  Opinions are beliefs as well as but the assent
other hand, people believe that visualization is you are giving seems to suggest that it is
unnecessary for achieving a dream or goal, then it will different by quantitative form.
not be expedient to create a dream board, therefore
the given proposition will be considered false.  The degree of your belief without a clear and
distinct basis of evidence obliges you to still
Shortcomings of the Theories of Truth believe in the form of opinion.
 Correspondence Theory was criticized in its  Make effective decisions by analyze the data
limitation to give future predictions the collected from the opinions of other.
characteristics of being a proposition due to the
in determine state of affairs it refer.  Provide a better idea than the one you have
already in mind.
Example:

The proposition “the sun will rise tomorrow” is

problematic in this theory because the term tomorrow
Difference between Truth and Opinion Knowledge: Justified True Belief

TRUTH  The JTB account holds that knowledge is

equivalent to justified true belief; if all three
 Requires that a particular claim or statement conditions (justification, truth, and belief) are
must have sufficient and supporting evidence met of a given claim, then we have knowledge
and not just a mere statement of belief with no of that claim.
evidence at all.
 In his 1963 three-page paper titled "Is Justified
 Statement of truths is supported by verifiable or True Belief Knowledge? “ Gettier attempts to
observable fact, objective, universally illustrate by means of two counterexamples
acceptable and impersonal. that there are cases where individuals can have
a justified, true belief regarding a claim but still
OPINION
fail to know it because the reasons for the
 Based on mere personal unsupported beliefs. belief, while justified, turn out to be false.

 Derived from one’s expression of feelings rather  Thus, Gettier claims to have shown that the JTB
than on evidence and observable facts. account is inadequate; that it does not account
for all of the necessary and sufficient conditions
 Do not require proofs and facts for knowledge.

Difference between Truth and Opinion Comparison of Knowledge and Wisdom

 Truth is always related to facts while opinion is  Socrates claimed to know that he has no
associated to emotion or feelings. wisdom, small or great, yet he also claimed that
God is using him to illustrate that the wisest of
 One good reason why you need to have a good men is he who recognizes that the wisdom of
grasp of the distinction between truth/facts and men is little or nothing.
opinion/feelings is for you to avoid committing
mistakes in your decision making and judgment  The key to admitting wisdom is to admit your
about a certain affairs or a person or a group of ignorance. Socrates realized that the more he
people. accumulated knowledge, the more he realized
that he knew nothing.
Knowledge: Justified True Belief (JTB)?
Knowledge versus Wisdom
 Knowledge is structured as :
 Many people mistake knowledge for wisdom
A subject S knows that a proposition P is true if and because they are intimately related.
only if:
 Knowledge is the accumulation of facts and
P is true, and information.
S believes that P is true, and  Wisdom is the synthesis of knowledge and
experiences into insights that deepen one
S is justified in believing that P is true
understands of relationships and the meaning
Then S know that P of life.

Example:  In other words, knowledge is a tool, and

wisdom is the craft in which the tool is used.
I believe I have two hands, I do in fact two hands, and I
have good justification in believing that I have two  Albert Einstein once said, ‘Wisdom is not a
hands. product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt
to acquire it.’

 ‘Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers,’ wrote

Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
  Wisdom requires no law or threat of
punishment to ensure compliance.

 Sadly, history is a lengthy record of the harms

wrought by knowledgeable, well-meaning
people who lacked wisdom.

Socrates said when he died.

When my sons are grown up, I would ask you, O my

friends to punish them, and I would have you troubled
them, as I have troubled you, if they seem to care about
riches, or anything, more than about VIRTUE; or if they
pretend to be something when they are really nothing-
then reprove them, as I have reproved you, for not
caring about that for which they ought to care, and
thinking that they are something when they are really
nothing. And if you do this, I and my sons will have
received justice at your hands.