Vivirito 1 Mike Vivirito Dr. Humiston 3 March 2014 PHI393 Mind, Rea it!, and the "orres#ondence $heor!

o% $ruth $he &uest %or understandin' truth and its derivation %rom an o()ective rea it! o%ten eads #hi oso#hers to discussions o% theories o% truth that invo ve the re ationshi# (et*een our conce#tua mode s a(out the *or d and the *or d itse %. +ne such %rame*ork, kno*n as the corres#ondence theor! o% truth, seeks to identi%! the connection (et*een our minds and %acts a(out the universe (e!ond our minds in order to eva uate the truth or %a sit! o% (e ie%s. In an attem#t to de%ine the nature o% truth and distin'uish (et*een truth and %a sehood ,ertrand Russe de ineates %eatures o% the corres#ondence theor! o% truth in his *ork The Problems of Philosophy (XII. Truth and Falsehood) *hi e addressin' issues associated *ith an a ternative theor! o% coherence. -imi ar !, Michae Devitt advocates a corres#ondence notion o% truth in his *ork Realism and Truth (III. What is Truth?) and ar'ues in %avor o% such a theor!. $o ana !.e the ar'uments #ut %orth in each o% these *orks re&uires an investi'ation into some o% the core e ements o% a corres#ondence theor! o% truth as out ined (! Russe and Devitt. $o (e'in, et us (rie% ! e/# ore *hat sorts o% thin's each thinker su''ests (ears truth0va ue. In the conte/t o% Russe 1s ar'ument, (e ie%s2statements com#osed *ithin the minds o% individua s serve as truth0(earers and the e&uiva ence o% the content o% a (e ie% and a state o% a%%airs constitutes truth. $o Devitt, s#eci%ic sentences a(out rea it! (ear

Vivirito 2 truth i% conditions in the *or d match those o% the (e ie% e/#ressed (! the sentence. 3ith a sense o% the kinds o% thin's Russe and Devitt consider truth (earin' *e can continue the ana !sis o% their ar'uments. Russe introduces his vie* o% corres#ondence theor! (! #rovidin' three re&uisites o% *hich an! truth theor! must %u %i 4 1. $he theor! o% truth must e/#ose %a sehood as its o##osite. 2. ,e ie%s must serve as the media throu'h *hich *e dec are truth or %a sehood. 3. $ruth or %a sehood o% a (e ie% de#ends on the corres#ondence o% the (e ie% to *or d conditions that re% ect the content o% the (e ie%. -ince truth o(tains %rom corres#ondence (et*een thou'ht and somethin' outside o% thou'ht, he ackno* ed'es the trou( e in determinin' a(so ute truth %rom #ossi( e %a sehoods and e/# ains that some #hi oso#hers uti i.e the coherence theor! o% truth that de%ines %a sehood as 5%ai ure to cohere in the (od! o% our (e ie%s.6 Russe ar'ues that the %o o*in' issues arise *ithin this theor! and ead to its re)ection as an e%%ective means o% discoverin' the nature o% truth4 "oherence theor!, as a %orm o% re ativism, a o*s %or more than one (od! o% (e ie%s to constitute truth inde#endent ! o% an! other (od! o% (e ie%s *ith a di%%erent notion o% coherence. In other *ords, t*o individua s ma! %ormu ate di%%erent conc usions o% truth or %a sehood (ased on ho* rea it! coheres 7or %ai s to cohere8 to their o*n su()ective (e ie%s. "oherence theor! #resu##oses the truth o% the a*s o% o'ic, inc udin' the a* o% contradiction, *hich a(e s contradictor! (e ie%s as non0coherent. 9ssumin' the %a sit! o% the a* o% contradiction throu'h the use o% coherence theor! *ou d

Vivirito 3 undermine the notion o% coherence a to'ether, %or (e ie%s cou d no on'er contradict one another. :o* Russe redirects his attention to the corres#ondence theor! and asserts (e ie%s e/ist as re ations (et*een the mind 7su()ect8 and severa thin's other than itse % 7o()ects8, *hereas coherence theorists (ase truth on the re ation o% (e ie%s to other (e ie%s, there%ore 5an act o% (e ie% o% )ud'ment is the occurrence (et*een certain terms at a #articu ar time, o% the re ation (e ievin' or )ud'in'.6 $ruth, as an e/trinsic #ro#ert! o% (e ie%s, arises %rom the ordered re ations o% the constituents o% a (e ie% 7su()ect ; o()ects8 to their actua orderin' into a 5com# e/ unit!6 in rea it!, *hi e the ack o% corres#ondence entai s %a sehood. Devitt a so #osits three com#onent &ua ities o% corres#ondence theor! that assist us in de%inin' truth4 1. Particu ar sentences e/hi(it o()ective sentence structure. 2. 9n o()ective re ationshi# (inds sentences to rea it!. 3. $he o()ective nature o% rea it! e/ists inde#endent ! o% sentences. 9ssumin' the o()ectivit! o% the under ined com#onents, an! #redication o% *ords e/#ressed (! a sentence in corres#ondence *ith rea it! ho ds true. Devitt 'oes on to c aim that, 5truth is neither to (e identi%ied *ith, nor to (e e iminated in %avour o%, an! e#istemic notion,6 there%ore corres#ondence theorists need not seek truth in terms o% evidence, (ut rather in re'ard to the re%erentia re ations (et*een sentence #ro#ositions and the *or d. $he notion o% #ossi( e evidence su''ests that des#ite the a##arent truth o% a sentence, there mi'ht e/ist undiscovered evidence to %a si%! the sentence, ho*ever Devitt disre'ards e#istemo o'! as a constitutive %eature o%

Vivirito 4 corres#ondence theor! (ecause #ossi( e evidence sometimes ies (e!ond the kno* ed'e or a*areness o% the individua , *ho makes c aims a(out rea it! o% *hich their a*areness ies *ithin. Issues that cha en'e the corres#ondence theor! o% truth inc ude notions that &uestion the nature o% rea it! itse %. -ome ar'ue that our interactions *ith the *or d take # ace on ! indirect !, su''estin' that our #erce#tion o% the *or d imits our understandin' o% rea it! in so %ar as there e/ists no *a! to o(tain direct kno* ed'e o% the *a! the *or d is outside o% our (e ie%s and conce#tua schemes. <or this reason, re ations (et*een minds and rea it! sim# ! cannot o(tain truth due to the inaccessi(i it! o% direct kno* ed'e a(out rea it!. -imi ar !, some reduce corres#ondence theor! to a theor! o% coherence %or it (ases truth or %a sit! on vie*s o% the universe that %a *ithin our conce#tua understandin'. 3a!s *e de%ine the universe re'u ate our eva uation o% truth in accordance to that #articu ar de%inition, im# !in' a doctrine o% coherence (et*een *hat *e ca o()ects in the *or d and our (e ie%s a(out those o()ects. $his #oint o% contention seems to im# ! an e#istemic notion that, as out ined (! Devitt, does not a## ! to our understandin' o% truth under a corres#ondence theor!. 9 thou'h de%initions o% o()ects in rea it! undou(ted ! descri(e the *or d as #erceived (! our minds, *e cannot em# o! a method o% descri(in' the *or d in0and0o%0 itse % *ithout uti i.in' some conce#tua %rame*ork. "orres#ondence theor! does not vio ate #rece#ts a(out the o()ective nature o% rea it!, (ut rather attem#ts to %ind a (est %it (et*een thin's *e (e ieve and o(serve. ,ertrand Russe and Michae Devitt e%%ective ! ar'ue in su##ort o% the corres#ondence theor! o% truth in their *orks The Problems of Philosophy and Realism and Truth.