Is truth objective, What are our truths dependent upon?
Whats true?
2007-04-04 09:37:15 · 6 answers · asked by Man yahoo is biased 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
In my freshman year of college in English 101 we read a book called "How To Tell A True War Story." by Tim O’Brien, a collection of short stories about Vietnam.
According to the author, a true war story is more about the attitude it conveys than whether it is factual. He used the example of a very short war story with two versions:
"Once four soldiers were walking in enemy territory when a grenade was thrown in their direction. One of the men jumped on top of the grenade, killing himself but saving his friends."
the other version:
"Once four soldiers were walking in enemy territory when a grenade was thrown in their direction. One of the men jumped on top of the grenade, but it was a killer grenade and they all died anyway."
If you were telling the first version to someone, they would look at you with wide eyes and ask if it's true. That's how you know that even if events just like that occurred, it's factual in every detail, it is not a true war story.
The second version is a true war story, even if it never happened, even if none of the events were factual.
Is that what you're asking, that something can be true but not factual or factual but not true?
2007-04-04 10:14:31 · answer #1 · answered by K 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm not sure what you're trying to say but the truth coming from a person is truthful because that's how they see it, even though it might not be a fact. It's kindof like lying, a lie isn't a lie if the person who told you thought it was true.
2007-04-04 16:45:58 · answer #2 · answered by BURNZ 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Of course....plenty of facts have been proven wrong! I mean how about the geocentric solar system. But I guess it depends on the definition of a fact. Is it something widely accepted as truth or is it something that absolutely is and may or may not be known by us for sure.......IDK!!
2007-04-04 16:44:06 · answer #3 · answered by Lex 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Many truths are without fact. Real truths, it seems are dependant only on our knowing them. And facts - pretty subjective don't you think?
2007-04-04 19:29:10 · answer #4 · answered by c'mon, cliffy 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We are not capable of knowing what is true. We take our best guess based on what we believe are the facts. So, given that all we know is subjective, then we must within the framework of subjectivity be as objective as possible and therefore rely on "facts".
2007-04-04 18:18:50 · answer #5 · answered by the Boss 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A few years ago, it was a truism that the world was flat. It happened to be factually untrue.
2007-04-04 19:29:54 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋