Epistemology

Criteria of Truth
Michael Shreeve, DC, LCP Palmer College of ChiropracTIC Florida Campus

Learning Objectives
Understand the philosophical terms of knowledge and truth Define the various criteria of truth

Philosophys Main Areas

Metaphysics Ethics Epistemology Logic esthetics

Epistemology

!
Digs down to methodology. What really made the changes? Are there too many variables to determine what made the difference? We should measure one little change at a time.

Deals with the methods" limits and validity of knowledge

rea of philosophy

!
! !

#eeks to answer$ %&hat is the nature of knowledge'(

%)s knowledge possi*le'( %&hat are the practical and theoretical limits of knowledge'(
What do we do with it? Is it anything I need to know?

Epistemology

)mportant focus

The test of the truth of a *elief or statement

test used to distinguish truth from error constitutes a standard or measure of verification ! Criteria of Truth

Criteria of Truth
+ot all have e,ual validity

 #ome have no %apparent( value *ut continue to *e used for personal reasons -thers are more useful in .udging what is not true #ome have strong validity in proper limited areas There does not exist one single" universally accepted criterion of truth/
! 0ollowing list is not meant to *e all inclusive1

Criterion of Truth
Custom
Customary in some societies to circumcise males

Tradition

Traditional in some societies to poke holes in the body for ornamentation.

Time 0eelings )nstinct )ntuition 2unch 3evelation Consensus gentium Ma.ority rule uthority Transferred authority 4ragmatism +egative pragmatism +a5ve realism Correspondence Loose consistency 3igorous consistency Coherence

Custom
ssumes that doing what is customary will not lead us too far astray/ -ften used in matters involving the determination of moral truth/ May also dictate

! ! !

Dress #peech 2ealth practices

! Customs often conflict with and 6 or contradict each other from one area to another

Considered a %poor( criterion of truth

Tradition
Consists of the notion that what lasts for generations must *e valid/ 7ased on the assumption that the application of principles over time tests the validity of those principles/ lso considered a poor criterion of truth/
! !

Many traditions repeat what is false -ne cultures traditions may conflict with another cultures traditions

Time
7eliefs that have lasted the longest must *e true Testing a *elief against reality over a period of time is an essential part of the esta*lishment of true principles 2owever / / / /

Time

! ristotles assertion that a falling o*.ect had a definite %natural falling speed( proportional to its weight8 therefore heavier o*.ects would fall faster than lighter o*.ects stood accepted and unchallenged for 9:;; years proven false with one e<periment ! =alileos inclined>plane e<periment found that the speed .ust kept on increasing" and weight was irrelevant as long as air friction was negligi*le

The persistence of a *elief over time is not *y itself ade,uate

eelings
)mplies dependence upon su*.ective feelings as a guide to truth
! %) have a good feeling a*out this ??????" therefore it must *e true/(

! !

2as a num*er of shortcomings

Different people have different feelings re reactions to stimuli

!nstinct

! !

Truth can *e identified *y a pre>programmed reaction Descri*es universal modes of feelings" reacting to situations
instinct of thirst drink )nstinct of hunger eat

ll instincts have a corresponding o*.ect/

!ntuition
)mplies a .udgment of truth without recourse to formali@ed reasoning from identified facts or assumptions
It assumes it ust comes. Women!s intuition.

)ts validity is assumed to come from an unknown source within the unconscious mind/ Considered a poor criterion of truth mainly *ecause it is not dependa*le" nor necessarily availa*le when needed/ #een as more valua*le as a source of %new( truths/

"unch
#uggests an impulsive generali@ation of the truth in response to a specific situation/ Closely related to %feeling( and %intuition(

#evelation
This is nearly indistinguisha*le from %intuition( The difference is that the source of %revelation( is *elieved to come from =od/ revelation accepted on faith is a nearly unshaka*le criterion for personal truth/

Consensus $entium
Truth is found in the opinions held in common *y all people the unanimous opinion of mankind

&eakness A entire populations have *elieved erroneous things

the %orld is flat

Majority #ule
#imilar to %consensus gentium( lthough it may *e a good democratic procedure" it is not seen as a valid system of determining truth
! The )ndiana legislature voted to make pi e,ual to B/ This did +-T change the actual ratio *etween diameter and the circumference of a circle
http$66arshermeneutica/org6*esieged6Legislating?the?Calue?of?4i http$66en/wikipedia/org6wiki6)ndiana?4i?7ill

Authority
The opinions of people with training and e<perience are considered more true than the opinions of people without e<pertise/
"ight have some value. uthorities are often$

This is more useful in the e<act sciences than in the arts/

#o narrow in perspective they dont see the *ig picture #uscepti*le to rigid thinking patterns that lead to defending dogma rather than pursuing truth

Transferred Authority
person accepted as an authority or e<pert in one field is assumed to *e an authority in another field unrelated to their area of e<pertise/ Most a*used criteria of truth #ame limitations as %authority( plus the fundamental invalidity of the idea that authority could *e transferred in any way/

Pragmatism

!

)f an idea works" it must *e accepted as true )deas produce results

E<amination of the results will either verify or refute the idea/

Useful criterion *ut not infalli*le as not all ideas that produce results are necessarily true

&egative Pragmatism
)f an idea does +-T produce useful or intended results" it can +-T *e true

! The utility of truth may lie *eyond our perception or outside our value system

&eakness ! all truth must *e useful'

&a've #ealism

Things are" in reality" as the senses depict them/

%seeing is *elieving(

-nly that which is su*.ect to sensory perception is verifia*le Many truths go *eyond the natural or even amplified senses
e/g/ <>rays" chemical reactions" etc/

#enses can *e misled

e/g/ stick in the water appearing *ent

We can!t always believe what we see.

Correspondence
n idea or statement that corresponds accurately with the real o*.ect to which it refers is necessarily true/ )ts only weakness A how to determine if ones idea of the truth does" in fact" correspond accurately to the o*.ect of that idea/
What you see and say don!t always connect.

Considered a %definition( of truth" rather than a %test( of truth/ Most closely associated with inductive reasoning or the scientific method

Loose Consistency
The validity of a statement is .udged *y its relation to other statements of truth/ True *ut not necessarily related statements are said to *e loosely consistent if they do not contradict each other
! %snow is white(" %lead is heavy(" D %all politicians are honest(1 non contradictory statements *ut all true'

#igorous Consistency
+on>contradictory statements

! ! !

one proposition follows necessarily from another (yllogism$ !f) !f) Then logic applied to deductive process

%)f all generals in the U# rmy are soldiers" and if Eohn Doe is a general" then Eohn Doe must *e a soldier(

Limited to those statements that can *e related to each other

Coherence
3e,uires a systematic" consistent e<planation of all the facts of e<istence &hatever facts are revealed must *e e<plaina*le/ Considered to *e the *est criterion of truth as it includes$
! ! ! ! ! acts #eason #elationships) (ystemative integration Consistency

)ts only limitation A mans ina*ility to collect all the facts

We fail to collect the data and then make a #uantum leap in assumption.

&ota bene
The use of coherence to .udge the overall integrity of ones knowledge of the truth and correspondence to .udge the validity of ones elemental facts" pro*a*ly produces the most complete test of truth/ )ntegral use of these two criteria is considered the *asis for formulating a sound theory

#eferences
4resentation *y Dr/ Calerie 4ennacchio" updated and revised #eptem*er F;;G/