This problem is central to the system of philosophical knowledge. Hundreds of scholars have worked to identify the basic properties of truth. The characters of philosophical theories are different: some of them have roots in earlier teachings, others radically contradict each other.
The classic definition of the truth of knowledge
The concept of truth in everyday life can have a different meaning, but in science it is understood, first of all, as a correspondence of a judgment to objective reality. Speaking about certain properties of objects and phenomena of reality, then it is necessary to point to them, to connect statements with objects of the material world.
This view of the truth goes back to the teachings of Aristotle. But how can the nature of the objects of the material world that exist in time and space be correlated with the ideal nature of logical inferences? Due to this contradiction, new views on the concept of truth appeared in philosophy.
Alternative Views on the Properties of Truth
One of these approaches is the following: it is methodologically correct to justify a statement only with the help of another statement. In philosophy, there is the so-called coherent concept, according to which, the criterion of truth can only serve as the correspondence of the statements within the judgment. However, this approach does not return the philosopher back to the material world.
Immanuel Kant believed that the main properties of truth are universality and necessity, the coordination of thinking with oneself. The philosopher's sources of knowledge are not objective reality, but a priori knowledge that a person has.
The French scientist Rene Descartes proposed its evidence as a criterion for the truth of knowledge. Other scholars, such as Mach and Averanius, adhered to the principle of Occam's razor and proposed the economy of thinking as the main characteristic of truth.
According to the doctrine of pragmatism, which contrasted itself with coherent theory, a statement can be considered true if it brings practical benefit. Its representatives are American philosophers Charles Pierce and William James. A striking example of this view of the nature of truth is the views of the ancient Greek scholar Ptolemy. They present a model of the world corresponding to what it seems to be, and not what it really is. But despite this, it brought considerable practical benefits. With the help of Ptolemy's maps, various astronomical events were correctly predicted.
Were the views of the ancient scientist true then? The answer to this question is given by a theory called relativism. Judgments that are independent and contradictory to each other can be true, as the concept says.
Another doctrine - materialism - interprets objective reality as existing independently of a person, and therefore, within the framework of his concepts, the main properties of truth are the adequacy and correspondence of the reflection of objects and phenomena of the real world.
And how are these issues being considered now? What are the properties of objective truth at present?
Logical Consistency
This truth criterion has its origins in a coherent concept. This condition is necessary, but to recognize the theory as true, it must include other properties of truth. Knowledge may be consistent within, but this does not guarantee that it is not false.
Pragmatism, or practice
Dialectical materialism puts forward the following criterion for the truth of knowledge: its applicability in practice. Theories do not carry in themselves intrinsic value; they are not developed by man in order to fill libraries. Knowledge is necessary so that it can be applied in reality. In practice, unity of thought about the object and action.
Specificity
The next property of truth. It means that a particular judgment is true within the framework of a specific context, subject to certain conditions. Any object of the material world has a certain number of specific properties and is included in the system of other objects. Therefore, it is impossible to make a correct judgment without taking these conditions into account.
Verifiability
Another criterion for truth is the ability to test it empirically. In science, there are concepts of verification and falsification. The first denotes the process by which the truth of knowledge is established through experience, that is, empirical verification. Falsification is a process of logical thinking, with the help of which one can determine the falsity of a thesis or theory.
Absoluteness and relativity
Philosophy distinguishes two types of truth: absolute and relative. The first is a complete knowledge of the subject, which cannot be refuted in the course of further research. Common examples of absolute truth are physical constants, historical dates. However, this type is not the goal of knowledge.
The second type - relative truth - may contain absolute components, but it must be clarified. For example, the totality of human knowledge about the nature of matter belongs to this type.
It should be noted that knowledge can also be false. However, a lie should be distinguished from error or unintentional erroneous judgment. Relative truth may contain this type of distortion. The properties and criteria of truth make it possible to avoid such errors: for this, the acquired knowledge must be correlated with them.
Scientific knowledge, in fact, is a movement towards absolute truths from relative truths, and this process can never be completed to the end.
