CHAPTER 2 – TRUTH AND PHILOSOPHY

-Nowadays, it is, more and more difficult to

discern what is true from what is false.

-philosophy as a discipline will not claim to be

the sole bearer of truth.
-the philosophy is much of the way or process
by which we can distinguish claims that are
true form those that are false
Lesson 1 – The Domains of Truth

A man who lives away from his family

abroad has been in a state of coma,
sustained by life support from medical
equipment for about two months.
Doctors have told his friends that he
has very low chance of being revive if
they take away the life support from
him.
 As per hospital regulations, it is only
family members who are allowed to consent
of
pulling the plug. The man’s brother finally
arrived to give th consent. But something
strange happened, the moment the brother
started talking to the patient they noticed that
his vital signs stabilized. Days passed, the
patient shows rapid improvement. The doctor
was unable to explain what had happened.
 1. His friends says that it is because of the
prayer of the community

2. others say that the presence of his brother

had a healing effect on him.

3. Some doctors say that the medication must

have worked.

Today the man has fully survived his condition

and is normal as he can be.

WHAT DO YOU THINK TRULY HAPPENED?

 Analysis

-have you notice the differences in your

opinion about the situation?

- Who do you think among you is

correct?
 ABSTRACTION

1. What is truth?
2. What do we mean when we say that
something is true?

-Life would be a lot simpler if truth meant only

one thing.
-life would have been a matter of simply
answering the question whether the things we
say, read about, and discuss are true or false.
-We often say something is true because it is
based on facts.
-when it is backed by data gathering, analysis,
and verification.
-when you pick up magazine or newspaper or
in social media there are arguments about
what is true.
OBJECTIVE TRUTH
- They point to descriptions of “state of affairs”
which remain true regardless of who is
viewing them.
Ex. Truth about the water cycle
-Some scientist however, point out that the
scientific truth are part of just one among
the many ways of understanding truth.

- but not everyone is clearly aware of this.

-like the case of people who condemn others

for having a religion and for believing in GOD.

-people argue that believers base their lives

on unverified truths.
-Believers are judged to be irrational because
they cannot demonstrate the truth of their
faith.

-believers are irrational because they believe

in things that cannot be verified meaning only
those who believe in scientific truths are
rational

-if we agree with this reasoning then everyone

of us is irrational
- Because many parts of our lives rest on things
that we consider as true even if they are not
scientifically proven.

Ex. As we grow into the world, we believe

that some people love us even there is no
scientific basis for the truth of love.
TO NARROWLY CONFINE TRUTH TO THE
SCIENTIFIC WAY OF THINKING IS TO CLAIM
THAT THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY OF
UNDERSTANDING TRUTH.
DOMAINS OF TRUTH
- according to Habermas that apart from the
scientific truths, there are other domains in
life in which we understand truth differently
1. 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. TYPHOON SEASON – BELONGS TO NATURAL REALM. IT COMES AND GOES

WHETHER WE WANT IT OR NOT.
2. SOCIAL DOMAIN

•- TRUTH IS ANALOGOUS WITH OF A GENERAL AGREEMENT OR

CONSENSUS ON WHAT IS RIGHT AS OPPOSED TO WHAT IS WRONG.

•EX. IN A LIBRARY FOR READING, WE SAY THAT MAINTAINING SILENCE IS

GOOD. BUT IN A BASKETBALL GAME, WE SAY THAT WE SHOULD CHEER FOR OUR
TEAM AS LOUDLY AS WE CAN TO KEEP THEM MOTIVATED.
-The truths in the social domain are mostly
products of an agreement in society that has
been established over time.

- we have to be constantly aware that these

truths are “created” or constructed by
people

-it can be changed through a critical

examination and deliberation among the
members of the community.
 3. PERSONAL DOMAIN
- WHERE TRUTH IS ANALOGOUS WITH
- SINCERITY.
our statement are consistent with with
our inner thoughts and intentions.
- truths that we claim needs
corresponding actions that will establish
trust.
-a person who proves to be consistent with
what he declares about himself is regarded
as authentic and can be trusted/trustworthy.
Note of this:

when we ask “What is the truth?” it is

important to know from what domain you are
asking this question, so you will know in what
way we can test whether or not a claim is true.
TRUTH AND JUSTIFICATION

- Richard Rorty offers a simple way of defining

truth: truth can be understood as what has
passed “procedures of justification,”

-Justification – means the process of

proving the truth or validity of a statement.
In each domain of truth it has a
corresponding justification or has
different criteria for truth.

1. Scientific/objective domain
- truths are tested against
empirical evidence.
-A scientific statement is held as true
when it is justified by data gathering from
careful observation and analysis.

-Pharmaceutical companies convince

doctors and patients on the effectiveness
of their medicine by publishing research
findings examined and critically analyzed
by experts.
-Before a scientific journal gets published,
it goes through a rigorous review process
where experts raise critical questions that
the researchers should be prepared to
answer and defend with data.

-As soon as scientific claim is no longer

questioned or criticized, it more or less
gains the status of a scientific truth.
2. Social domain
- truths are tested against their
acceptability to a particular group in
a particular time in history

- The justification of social norms

takes longer than scientifictruths.
- this is especially true when what is
involved in the process of justifying them
are people coming from varying
history.
- BECAUSE OF THEIR DIFFERENCES IN
THEIR PERSPECTIVES, IT IS NOT EASY
TO GET A CONCENSUS OR AGREEMENT.
THIS IS THE REASON WHY SOCIAL
NORMS TAKE TIME BEFORE THEY ARE
TURNED INTO HARD LAWS.
- Social norms turned to social “truths”
are the basis for
the balance in our society,
without them society will be no
different from a jungle in which only
the strong and powerful survive.
3. Personal Domain
- truths are tested against the
consistency and authenticity of the
person who claims.
-The justification of personal truth is
probably the longest to complete among
the three.
-this is because personal truths take a
whole lifetime of consistency in the
actions and decisions of a person who
makes a claim about himself.
Ex. When someone says, “I love you” to
his girlfriend, how would one know that
this is true. One action, 4 gifts, or a year
of dating her would not be enough.

- true love, as the adage goes, is tested

by time.
-
A BOYFRIEND CAN BE SAID TOBE
INSINCERE OR INAUTHENTIC WHEN HE
ONLY SHOWS HIS LOVE FOR A FEW
DAYS, AND ACTS DIFFERENTLY AFTER
HE HAS BEEN SEXUALLY SATISFIED.
- for this reason , believing on someone’s
sincerity takes years of hard work.
SUMMARY
Despite the many ways by which we can
understand truth, there is a common
definition among them of what truth is –
that it has surpassed its test of
justification.

-
 to answer the question what is truth?
We must first determine which domain of
truth the assertion belongs to, then apply
the corresponding criteria of justifying the
truth of such assertion.
To which domain of truth does each of
the following statements fall? Explain.

A. In sickness and in health, til death do

us part.
B. Reptiles are cold blooded.
C. “Don’t talk when your mouth is
full.”
 Plot the main points of the domain on a
table.
1.One column should contain the three
domains of truth,
2.another column for examples to each
domain,
3.and a last column for the procedure of
justification for each domain.