Good morning, R&S! Your friendly neighborhood critical thinking instructor has an essay question for you.?

Question

What constitutes a fact, and can you provide an example of a fact?

This is religion here.

Facts are true, sweetie. Try again.

Belief and faith are opinions. They aren't facts. I'm sorry. Please resubmit your essay question. I do allow rewrites.

arewethereyet fails for plagiarizing her answer.

I'm with you, Matthew! Right after class!

Someone please star me. I NEVER request that, but I'd really like to get a lot of answers on this one.

Wooderson:

1) It IS plagiarism if you don't put quotation marks around exact words used from the original source, even if you cite your source.

2) I can not argue with the fact that it is cloudy where you are. For instance, it is a fact that at 8:24 a.m. in Des Moines, Iowa, on August 7th, 2007, the sky outside was cloudy. No one can argue with that fact. Even though you may not be where I am, you can't deny that fact.

Try this fact on for size: Every living human being must have oxygen provided either naturally or artificially in order to continue living.

Can that be argued?

Agabusa: Did I get it right?

Anyway, "It is a fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. It is also a fact that Jesus was crucified and died on the cross." Those are beliefs. Facts cannot be argued. That can be argued.

"It is also a fact that the cross is a sign of our salvation." Hmmm. Close. It's a fact that Christians consider the cross a sign of their salvation. I don't think anyone can argue with that.

redwagon: Interestingly, in college, my philosophy professor asked, "If there is no record of an event, did it actually happen?" He went on to ask if there is no record of, say, November 7th, 1917, what proof do we have that anything that happened that day actually happened?

It threw me for a loop.

Well, Wooderson, considering I teach students how to avoid plagiarism, and I do so directly from my academic training, from the information provided by academic organizations (APA and MLA), and because EVERY TEXTBOOK SAYS THE SAME THING, you fail.

Wooderson, I really don't think you understand what a fact is. Again, I present you with a fact, even though I'm repeating myself: All living human beings must have oxygen provided to them either artificially or naturally in order to continue living.

I invite you to argue that fact.

Answer 1

A fact is something that is true.

An example of a fact: the captial of mississippi is the city of Jackson.

Answer 2

A fact is something indisputable that can be demonstrated over and over again scientifically. If something cannot be demonstrated in this manner, it is not a fact. It is either an hypothesis, an opinion, or pure speculation (i.e., a matter of faith).

An example of a fact is that water boils at 100 degress C. This is a fact because it can be demonstrated 100% of the time by repeating the same procedures.

Religion is almost always not based on fact, but pure speculation.

That said, I am a very religious person. Although I'm a pretty smart cookie, too. I believe God transcends natural understanding and cannot be proven as a scientific fact. It's a matter of faith. And if we don't share the same faith, it's cool. Because neither of us can prove the other wrong. So let's just get a beer and be friends!!!

Edit... I like what Ooggle Booggle said. A fact is a fact whether people understand it or not. Reality is reality, independent of popular consensus. That certainly doesn't mean God must be real (too big an inductive leap there), but it is a good point nonetheless. God "may" be real. But he also may not be. Thus the impasse. How 'bout that beer?

Answer 3

A fact is a truth that cannot change. It is there and always there. It can only be tampered with through mutilation of the truth. It is a fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. It is also a fact that Jesus was crucified and died on the cross. It is also a fact that the cross is a sign of our salvation.

Answer 4

A Fact
Essay by redwagon
Professor TheGrit's Critical Thinking class 101
500 words or less - single spaced/yahoo font
Due: August 9th

The dictionary definition of a fact is strangly irratic in that a "fact" can be both "something that actually exists"(1) and "reality or truth/known to have happened". The difficulty in defining the word "fact" lies in two areas.
If I can see, smell, touch, taste, hear and observe something - it is a fact that it exists. It is in real time. It affects me and it has substance. However if we continue on in our definition to "known to have happened", "reality" and "truth", where will that lead us?
Historical evidence in writings, sculpture and painting suggest that there were gods of old. All cultures of the world profess some sort of diety of the past and of the present, and will continue these beliefs to the future. Did Zeus exist? Did Jesus exist? Were they who they claimed to be? Through the ages, legends have been told. Generations upon generations grow old hearing, recounting and believing these stories. Do they then become fact?
The logical answer is no. But is it? Can they be proven as real or fiction? There is factual evidence in the recounting of the stories.
An example of this might be the story of Pocahontas. She supposedly assisted the early settlers of the USA. There are written accounts of her assistance. This would prove her historical existance. There are also legends of her exploits. Her heroic deeds. Her love for John Smith. Are they true? There are people who claim to be direct descendants of her family. Do they know the truth? Their reality about their anscestor is real. It is tangible. They feel it and breathe it every day. Does this reality strike us as fact?
What of those civilizations who believe their gods exist. What of Jesus himself. The fact that he even existed may be in question, but scholars agree that the scripture and other writings of the time is very solid evidence that he did. There are millions of people who believe that he did. Are they wrong? What is their reality? To them, he is real. He lived, taught, and died. Myth becomes reality. To them, their reality becomes fact.
In conclusion, we can agree that a fact is indeed real, tangible and present. However we must also agree that fact and the reality or truth of something that is known to have happened also intertwine themselves. No one can say that one person's reality is another person's myth. And therein lies the mystery of man. A complex creature. A fact of nature. A mysterious conscience. A reality that plays upon the mind in hundreds of millions of neuons that none can fathom.

respectfully submitted August 7th, 2007

Answer 5

A fact is something known to exist or to have happened.

While the definition implies that a fact is true, the reality is that people can believe that something exists or has happened but be incorrect. I.e. - they can have their facts wrong, even though they believe them to be true.

An example of a fact is "It's cloudy outside where I live right now." That's known, to the extent humans can know anything, to exist.

Of course, the assumptions behind that knowledge are that my eyes don't deceive me and everyone else around here, including the weather channel. It assumes that the world is as it appears to be. That may not be a correct assumption, but it is all we have to live by.....

Answer 6

A fact is anything that can be proven to be so without there being a single shread of doubt as to the contrary. Not one tiny bit of doubt. All apples are fruit would be a fact, but then an alley apple is not a fruit, so maybe all apples are not fruit. A fact should be one hundred percent accurate at all times under all conditions.

Answer 7

i'm a 37 3 hundred and sixty 5 days old perpetual pupil. I easily have skills in social artwork, nursing , English Literature, philosophy and history. i admire RS yet am uncertain in what way everyone clings to this place - it extremely is no longer a convenience blanket yet a conflict zone.

Answer 8

A fact is any bit of information that exists independently of what people might think of it.

For example, the freedoms associated with the USA Constitution can be traced back to Christianity this way: the Constitution influenced by John Locke, Locke by Lex Rex, Lex Rex written by a Christian Theologian, Rutherford. Independent of whether people like this or not, this is a fact, and although one can challenge what this ***means***, one cannot challenge its truthfulness or reality.

Answer 9

A fact is something that actually exists; reality; truth. It is something known to exist or to have happened. It is a truth known by actual experience or observation; something known to be true. It is something said to be true or supposed to have happened. Often, facts. an actual or alleged event or circumstance, is distinguished from its legal effect or consequence

Answer 10

An example of a fact,is that, if one answers honestly in stating inner conviction and belief,you undoubtedly will be eventually targeted by trolls and various ne'r do-wells..and thus subject to prosecution by the Yahoo Brotherhood,reguardless of your pure intentions and obvious innocense.