Philosophy Handout - Lesson 2 PDF

**THE VALUE OF TRUTH** **The critical aspect in doing philosophy is rational inquiry;** **Logic**, one of the branches of philosophy, is even dedicated to the discovery of principles for correct reasoning. When you find an explanation adequate to prove that what you believe is true. **The Nature...

**THE VALUE OF TRUTH** **The critical aspect in doing philosophy is rational inquiry;** **Logic**, one of the branches of philosophy, is even dedicated to the discovery of principles for correct reasoning. When you find an explanation adequate to prove that what you believe is true. **The Nature of Belief** \- Belief is the acceptence that something is true\-- a firmly held conviction; \- \"\...to believe is nothing but to think with assent.\" - St. Augustine; \- Some philosphers claim that believing as a propositional attitude is directed toward the propositions or statements about the object. \- A belief is a mental state of having some attitude, stance, take, or opinion about a proposition or about the potential state of affairs in which that proposition is true. **Structure of Belief:** **S believes that P is true.** **S = Person** **P = Representation** The Nature of Truth Three Theories of Truth **The Correspondence Theory of Truth** **This theory states that the key to truth is the relation (or correspondence) between propositions and the world;** This means that **\"a belief is true if there exist an appropriate entity, a fact, to which it corresponds.** If there is no entity, the belief is false.\"; This theory of truth compares the given proposition and the truth conditions or state of affairs that will make the proposition true. Example: 1 There were a time when creatures bigger than man and animals existed. 2 The Philippines has its own Merlion. **The Coherence Theory of Truth** \- This theory states that the truth of any (true) proposition consists in its coherence with some specified set of propositions (or significant wholes); \- **This means that the truth conditions of a proposition are based on other propositions (as opposed to the Correspondence Theory);** \- This theory insists that a belief is true if and only if it is part of a coherent system of beliefs. \- Not a criterion for truth but the nature of truth itself. \- Truth is a matter of how beliefs are related to each other. **The Pragmatic Theory of Truth** \- **This theory holds that a proposition is true if it is useful to believe** (it). Thus, utility is the essential mark of truth. \- **Truth is arrived at based on the beliefs that lead to the best \"pay off**\", that gives the ultimate benefit or advantage that promotes success. \- **Philosophers who subscribe to the pragmatic criterion consider truth as what is expedient.** \- Under this theory of truth, the given proposition is true if it leads to success, that is, of it is expedient for the person to believe that his/her dreams will come true with visualization. **Shortcomings of the Theories of Truth** 1\. **Correspondence Theory** \- criticized in its limitation to give predictions of the characteristic of being a proposition due to the indeterminate state of affairs it refers. Example: The sun will rise tomorrow. 2\. **The Coherence Theory** \- criticized for its vulnerability that clarifies the notion of consistency. \- We cannot determine if a given proposition is true in our notion or false in other notions. 3\. Pragmatic Theory \- Implies the relativity of truth \- What is useful to one person might not be useful to another. **Opinion\'s Purpose** \- Opinio a personal belief or judgment that is not founded on proof or certainty; \- \"We have the obligation to withhold assent from all proposition whose truth we cannot clearly and distinclty perceive.\" - Rene Descartes; \- We are obliged to have some sort of evidence before giving our assent; \- Though we cannot have certain demonstration of everything, we must still take sides, and in matters of custom, embrace the opinion that seem the most probable, so that we may never be irresolute when we need to act. \- If truth cannot be achieved, prudence is exercised through having an opinion. **Cognition According to Plato** \- Cognition is the psychological result of perception and learning and reasoning \- In the Republic, Plato distinguished between opinion (doxa) and intellect regarding the visible realm of sensible objects; \- Under opinion and intellect, Plato discussed four distinct segment of cognition; **Imaging (Eikasia)** **Belief (Pistis)** **Thought (Dianoia)** **Knowledge (Noesis)** **- Imaging (Eikasisa)** or conjecture refers to the pictures and other images in the lowest level of reality. This segment is the appropriate degree of awareness, although it provides only the most primitive and unreliable opinions; \- **Belief (Pistis)** is based on perception of ordinary physical objects. Plato believes that this is the most accurate possible conception of man to the nature and relationship of temporal things; \- **Thought (Dianoia**) is in the intelligible realm and a step higher than belief. Directed towards simple form of shapes, numbers, and other mathematical entities; \- **Knowledge (Noesis)** is the highest level of all segments. Based on more significant forms\--true equality, beauty, truth, and good. These permanent objects of knowledge are directly apprehended by the intellect, which is the fundamental capacity of human reason to comprehend the true nature of reality. Knowledge: Justified True Belief\_\_\_\_\_ \- In 1963, Edmund Gettier, an American philosopher, wrote an essay refuting the traditional analysis of knowledge or its definition as a \"justified true belief\" (JTB). He gave a counterexample to the conception that knowledge is structured as follows: S knows that P is (if and only if) \- P is true; \- S believes in P; \- S is justified in believing that P is true. S is the subject P is the Representation or Proposition/ Idea