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Truth

Truth is the product of the recognition (i.e., identification) of the facts of
reality. Man identifies and integrates the facts of reality by means of
concepts. He retains concepts in his mind by means of definitions. He organizes
concepts into propositions—and the truth or falsehood of his propositions
rests, not only on their relation to the facts he asserts, but also on the
truth or falsehood of the definitions of the concepts he uses to assert them,
which rests on the truth or falsehood of his designations of essential
characteristics.

Every truth about a given existent(s) reduces, in basic pattern, to: “X is: one
or more of the things which it is.” The predicate in such a case states some
characteristic(s) of the subject; but since it is a characteristic of the
subject, the concept(s) designating the subject in fact includes the
predicate from the outset. If one wishes to use the term “tautology” in this
context, then all truths are “tautological.” (And, by the same
reasoning, all falsehoods are self-contradictions.)

When making a statement about an existent, one has, ultimately, only two
alternatives: “X (which means X, the existent, including all its
characteristics) is what it is”—or: “X is not what it is.”
The choice between truth and falsehood is the choice between “tautology” (in
the sense explained) and self-contradiction.

In the realm of propositions, there is only one basic epistemological
distinction: truth vs. falsehood, and only one fundamental issue: By
what method is truth discovered and validated? To plant a dichotomy at the base
of human knowledge—to claim that there are opposite methods of
validation and opposite types of truth [as do the advocates of the
“analytic-synthetic” dichotomy] is a procedure without grounds or
justification.

The existence of human volition cannot be used to justify the theory that there
is a dichotomy of propositions or of truths. Propositions
about metaphysical facts, and propositions about man-made facts, do not have
different characteristics qua propositions. They differ merely in
their subject matter, but then so do the propositions of astronomy and of
immunology. Truths about metaphysical and about man-made facts are learned and
validated by the same process: by observation; and, qua truths, both
are equally necessary. Some facts are not necessary, but all
truths are.

Truth is the identification of a fact of reality. Whether the fact in question
is metaphysical or man-made, the fact determines the truth: if the fact exists,
there is no alternative in regard to what is true. For instance, the fact that
the U.S. has 50 states was not metaphysically necessary—but as long as this is
men’s choice, the proposition that “The U.S. has 50 states” is necessarily
true. A true proposition must describe the facts as they are.
In this sense, a “necessary truth” is a redundancy, and a “contingent truth” a
self-contradiction.

[Consider the catch phrase:] “It may be true for you, but it’s not true for
me.” What is the meaning of the concept “truth”? Truth is the recognition of
reality. (This is known as the correspondence theory of truth.) The same thing
cannot be true and untrue at the same time and in the same respect. That catch
phrase, therefore, means: a. that the Law of Identity is invalid; b. that there
is no objectively perceivable reality, only some indeterminate flux which is
nothing in particular, i.e., that there is no reality (in which case, there can
be no such thing as truth); or c. that the two debaters perceive two different
universes (in which case, no debate is possible). (The purpose of the catch
phrase is the destruction of objectivity.)