Tom Ritchford
Apr 15, 2021

--

Robert Anton Wilson goes through the problem of truth in great and entertaining detail in various of his books and I'll basically crib from him.

There isn't one single definition of the word true, and that idea isn't sophistry, it's perfectly practical.

"True" has one meaning in mathematics, a different one in science, yet another in philosophy, a whole bunch of meanings in law depending on where you are and the specific case, and of course a common, informal meaning.

Scientifically true facts may later be disproven and a new scientific truth revealed. This is an essential property of science, not a flaw. If science had unfalsifiable truths, it wouldn't be science!

Your trouble here is that you are conflating philosophical truth, scientific truth and the informal concept of truth. A little more precision in words and the whole problem goes away.

--

--

No responses yet