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To say that a statement is "truth" is to say that it reflects the way things really are. What truth is beyond that is a matter of debate, with different philosophers offering different theories as to what truth is and how to distinguish truth from falsity.

What is truth?

There is no truth.
Because for each person truth is sometthing different.
There are only few statement that can be always and for everyone true.

"Something cannot bring itself into existence." This is an absolutely true statement. In order for something to bring itself into existence, it would have to exist in order to be able to perform an action. But if it already existed, then it isn 't possible to bring itself into existence since it already exists. Likewise, if it does not exist then it has no ability to perform any creative action since it doesn' t exist in the first place. Therefore, "Something cannot bring itself into existence" is an absolute truth.

But if it doesn't exist it may bring itself to existence
or i didn't understand something?

It's a paradox Clovie, if something brings itself into existence then it must first exist to do so. Or perhaps it doesn't, man is not even remotely close to understanding the universe. In answer to the topic I guess 'truth' is just the conclusion we come to when we've reached the limits of our comprehension of something.

Another 'truth' is "You cannot create experience. You must undergo it." Another Camus quote, but I feel it's appropriate.

As I believe in a multiplicity of gods, and I believe in an all powerful creator, I therefore have to believe in a multiplicity of truth... that is, that an all powerful thing can make two, three or more truths, all of which can be the "only" truth, while all the others are as well.... in other words, something omnipotent can make black be the opposite of white, the same as white, and an infinite number of other things, all at the same time, even though these truths are contradictory.... therefore the truth vouchsafed to Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Sikhs, Wiccans, et al, although different in many respects are all The Only Truth... not necessarily all parts of the same truth, but distinct, separate truths.... any one who believes in an omnipotent God must be open to the idea that such power means that that being can make absolutely anything happen, no matter how incomprehensible it seems to us.... as a UFO investigator, I hold that, unless a sighting can be explained, it remains everything that it possibly could be, all at the same time...

also I think we must make a distinction between Truth, Reality and Validity.... reality is simply a function of the nervous system, a perception that we alter to suit our organs of comprehension... thus time "passes" when in fact time is not the stage upon which we act, but a fellow actor.... Validity is a logic-construct, valuable only to mathematical views of the world, and firmly anchored to reality... whereas truth is truth, and totally beyond our comprehension...

Truth = Whatever I say, because I'm always right.

The only truth is that no truth can exist

113, that in itself is a paradox, and automatically makes it false. if no truth can exists, then this "only truth" can't exist either, meaning that some truth must exist.

yes i know and my disagreeing with that statement it just proves that no truth can exist

truth exists. Is it true that we all live and die? We just make things more complicated than they are, or just want to sound different and philosophical.

You want to know truth? aside from the basic facts that we all hold to be true... Truth is something that is constantly twisted and bent by the media, raped by the powermongers and seeked by the lovers lost in the mist of lies.

I don't think there is any UNIVERSAL truth. Whatever statement you make, there is always someone with a counter-point.

Hence wiggys model. Things are neither true nor false - they simply have varying degrees of truth-possibility.

Truth (n. Pl.):

1) Conformity to fact or actuality.
2) A statement proven to be or accepted as true.
3) Sincerity; integrity.
4) Fidelity to an original or standard.

True (adj.):

1) Real; genuine.

Truth is what, in turn, we are all searching for. A reassurance that what we see is actually there.

Truth exists. If it doesnt, then most peoples lives are empty. Seeking the truth is most peoples goals in life. No matter what truth they are seeking.

But, as was mentioned by Clovie, truth is always something different to everyone. There are many different views of truth, as there is of God or the perfect person.

An absence of deception

Truth stands or falls by proof !

That is the basis whereby every scientist measures his or her success.

someone actually agreed with me

how nice

Sorry Clovie...( for disagreeing with you )....They say you should never start a sentence with an apology...but here goes !

Truth is not something different to each individual as truth is either there or it is not !

Truth - in the ear of the beholder - CAN be interpreted in different ways, but the seed of truth - or the untruth - must be there in the first place before it can be interpreted rightly or wrongly by the interpreter.

doesn't matter.

but truth is what you believe to be truth.
and for everyone believes in something different.

The belief or not does not decide if the item or word is true or false.

It either IS true or it is untrue !

It is whether you believe it to be true or not that does not matter.

But it is. EXAMPLE:

me -- That colour is teal. ((TRUE))

you-- that colour is dark green ((also true))

BUT THE STATEMENTS ARE NOT IDENTICAL.

According to you, the colour MUST be teal OR dark green - I say, teal is true to me, dark green is true to you

From a philosophical standpoint this is ridiculous. They understood that in the 4thC BC -

"A man says that he is lying. Is what he says true or false?"
Eubulides

Still working on it these days with the slightly more refined theory of Paraconsistent logic.

Even in a non-philosophical sense - If a man says "God will smite the unbelievers" he and many thousands of others will believe it to be a literal truth. Others believe it to be false. WHO thinks it's true and who false depends if the man is an American or an Israeli.


Truth is far from absolute.

Good example phoenix

But I am afraid that to say green is green is asking for people to say there are shades of green.

That is nevertheless not a way of proving truth as the definition was not clear or precise enough to argue that it was true or false in an empirical way.

The question needs to be stated precisely before the precise and truthful answer can be provided.

Indeed "Teal" and also emerald can be said to be green, but as the song says..."The forty shades of green" are all true too.

Where this example goes wrong is when someone says that turquoise is "green" when actually it is a greeny/blue. ( Greeny/blue=true...Green=false ).

It is all about accuracy of description I guess.

Nice try - took me a full minute to see what you did there - which is 60 seconds longer than ive ever had to pause on KMC before.



Phoenix wasn't trying to prove a truth, P was trying to show that truth sometimes cannot be proved ( as it's often subjective).

You are the one trying to prove the truth - you can't default her argument by inverting it to say that it doesnt support your own.

Boo-ya!

truth is most likely a statement made without any sugar coating... if someone is feeling inside "Gee this person is a real jerk", but say "Wow you're such a nice person" its obviously not the truth until they come clean and say "Gee this person is a real jerk"... but there are alot of different kinds of truth as you've said.. religion... ethics... politics.. I dont think much more can come of this except for vague answers

what you want it to be

WOW....Mr "Z"....

You are nearly as sneaky as I am !

Actually this "what is truth" question has generated many thousands of pages of debate all over the world of words and it is too unclear - and unspecific - a question to arrive at a clear or specific solution.

Nevertheless it is a fun subject to debate !

The truth is simply something that people accept to be true. I mean would you believe in light/color if everyone (including yourself) was naturally born blind? There would be different 'truths' then.