Pilate famously asked the title question (John 18:38). I expect people have been asking that question for as long as they have been asking questions. For a good discussion of theories of truth, check the entry in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Truth is a central concept in philosophy. But I am not at all satisfied with the way that it is used. Hence this post.
Correspondence
If you ask about truth, you may be answered with the correspondence theory. But the idea of “correspondence” is usually left unexplained. I sometimes see statements similar to:
- A sentence is true if it corresponds to the facts.
- A sentence is true if it expresses what is the case.
- A sentence is true if it expresses the state of affairs.
The trouble with all of these, is that they seem to be roundabout ways of saying “A sentence is true if it is true.” And that does not say anything at all.
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The Heretical Philosopher 