Truth Theories

(1) CORRESPONDENCE THEORY
A proposition is true when it accords with the actual state of affairs.  How it relates to the world and whether it accurately describes (corresponds with) that world.  Its criteria is resemblance, not evaluation. Correspondence theory is the traditional model that dates back to the Greek philosophy of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.  Plato’s cave dweller uses vision as the basis for their knowledge claims, but all they are looking at is puppet shadows-getting a ‘third-hand’ image of reality.  Perception is ‘What you see is what you get’.

Similar to ‘Correspondence’ truth is ‘Empirical’ Truth where truth is exact conformity between external things in their actual status or relation and the observation or experiment. As an example, the U.S. & U.K. flag consists of the colors red, white and blue.  It could have been other colors such as red, white and black.  This is an empirical truth or 'truth of fact' – contingency – something that is dependent upon something else (and it could change).

(2) COHERENCE THEORY
Stipulates that a given body of knowledge is true if and only if there are no internal deductive contradictions.  That the truth or falsity of a statement is determined by its relations to other statements rather than its relation to the world.  There is no single coherence theory of truth, only a collection of perspectives.

Similar to ‘Coherence Truth’ is ‘Logical Truth’ where truth is considered to be necessarily or logically true. (eg, A=A or A=not A). A truth where no situation could arise in which it could be found untrue.  Necessity is the key foundation where there is no possible way the truth could have been otherwise; where the truth in the nature of the definition (how proposition gets ‘unpacked’).  As an illustration, the color that represents mourning in western countries is black.  In China the color of mourning is white.  Black cannot be white, only black can be black – an absolute certainty (law of identity).

(3) PRAGMATIC THEORY
A theory is confirmed to be true relative to the work it can perform.  Two perspectives:
1) Internal perspective:  Personal expediency.  The true interacts with the good:  Hitler’s quest for global conquest was truth amongst the Nazis, but bad for the Jews.  When he was defeated his ‘truth’ became false.  Stalin died on top so his murderous regime would be classified as true.  A case where excitement overruled logical argument and ‘The Good’ was in absence of ‘The Truth’.

2) External perspective:  Scientific Method of confirmation.  A hypothesis is proved whenever its predicted results come about under controlled conditions and public scrutiny.

The following matrix compares Empirical and Logical Truths: