DOMAINS OF TRUTH Justification: In the scientific/objective domain, truths are tested against

empirical evidence. A scientific statement is held as true when it is justified by

TASK 1: READING IS GAINING data gathered from a careful observation and analysis.
A man who lives away from his family abroad has been in a state of coma, Social Domain
In the social domain, truth is analogous with (not the exact equivalent) a general
sustained by life support from medical equipment for about two months. Doctors
agreement or consensus on what is right as opposed to what is wrong.
have told his friends that he has very low chance of being revived if they take
Ex. Inside the chapel, we maintain silence for prayer and meditation.
away the life support from him. It seems that they are left with no other option
In a basketball game, we should cheer for our team as loudly as we can.
but to pull the plug, rather than keep him in life support for years. As per hospital
regulations, it is only family members who are allowed to consent to pull the plug. Justification: The justification of social norms takes longer than scientific truths.
The man’s brother finally arrived from his home country to give the consent. This is especially true when who are involved in the process of justifying them are
Something strange happened, however, the moment the brother started talking people coming from varying backgrounds and history. Because of their
to the patient in coma. They noticed that his vital signs began to stabilize. Days differences in their perspectives, it is not easy to get a consensus or agreement.
passed, and the patient started to show signs of rapid improvement. The doctors
up to this day are unable to explain what had happened. Friends of the patient
say the prayer of his community for a miracle was granted. Others say that the Personal Domain
presence of his brother had a healing effect on him. Some doctors say that the Aside from the social domain, there is also the personal domain where truth is
medication must have worked in a way that surprised the experts in the field. analogous with sincerity. When you say to another person, “I am telling the
truth,” what you usually mean by that statement is that our statements are
Today the man has fully survived his condition and is as normal as he can be.
consistent with our inner thoughts and intentions. This is a precarious domain of
What do you think truly happened in the story? truth because no one can have access to our minds and our thoughts except
ourselves.
ABSTRACTION
Justification: The justification of personal truths is probably the longest to
Truth – is the property of being in accord with fact or reality. Truth is usually held
complete among the three. This is because personal truths take a whole lifetime
to be the opposite of falsehood.
of consistency in the actions and decisions of a person who makes a claim about
Fact – a thing that is known or proved to be true.
himself. For example, when someone says, “I Love you” to his girlfriend, how
Reality – the quality or the state of being real.
would one know that this is true?
Domains of Truth
TASK 2: Check for Understanding
Scientific/Objective Domain
Create at least 2 examples of statements in each of the domains of truth.
Scientific truths are covered by the objective domain of life. This pertains to the
natural world that maintains a relative independence from the perspective and
attitude of human beings that perceive them.
Ex. Water’s boiling point is 100 degrees Celsius.
There is a typhoon season in the Philippines.