20 February, 2007

What is Truth?

Merriam Webster's Online Dictionary defines truth in the following manner:

Main Entry: truth Pronunciation: 'trüthFunction: nounInflected Form(s): plural truths /'trü[th]z, 'trüths/Etymology: Middle English trewthe, from Old English trEowth fidelity; akin to Old English trEowe faithful -- more at TRUE1 a archaic : FIDELITY, CONSTANCY b : sincerity in action, character, and utterance 2 a (1) : the state of being the case : FACT (2) : the body of real things, events, and facts : ACTUALITY (3) often capitalized : a transcendent fundamental or spiritual reality b : a judgment, proposition, or idea that is true or accepted as true thermodynamics> c : the body of true statements and propositions 3 a : the
property (as of a statement) of being in accord with fact or reality b chiefly
British : TRUE 2 c : fidelity to an original or to a standard4 capitalized, Christian Science : GOD - in truth : in accordance with fact : ACTUALLY http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary

My problem with the definitons set forth by Merriam-Webster and other dictionaries is that the definitions are only partially correct.

I argue that the definitons of truth and falsehood contained in the dictionary capture in part actual definitions of such concepts because, while the definitions can illustrate the various aspects of truth or falsehood that are objective only.

The definitons of these terms cannot illuminate the subjective portions of the concepts of truth or falsity. Inherent within these terms there exists a degree of subjectivity, in the sense that the preception of what truth and faslehood acutally are, is dependent upon the point of view of an individual whose perceptions of truth and falsity will be affected by the cultural lens of an individual.

Only one thing I am certain of, and that is the fact that whats truth is for one indivdual may not be so for another.