3. The truth

  1. The truth

   The truth is the concordance in the thought. If thought fits with reality, it is true.       When I write that vegetables are living beings, that judgment is true, because it is, indeed. But if I say that stones are living beings, judgment is false, because stones have no life in them.

    In other words: if what I think is a true reflection of what happens or is in our reality, then my thought is true. But if it is not reflecting reality, it is false.

    Example: if I write: “four plus four is eight”, my thought is true.

       Sometimes we can make mistakes, because our senses can deceive us. Example: when we hear a strange noise and think it is the TV in other room, but maybe it is a different thing.

    2. Commentary

    JUAN: It seems clear that, when thought and things are identical, we are in the reality. If I am in front of my computer and say that it is a computer, this is real. But if I say that I am in front of a phone, I am wrong

    MARÍA: But sometimes some boys lie and say one thing instead of another.

    JUAN: Also, they fail their exams and don’t want to recognise that it is their fault, and blame the teachers, their partner or the circumstances. They are not in the truth.

    MARÍA: Our senses can deceive us, too. We see something in the dark and think it is a certain object, but it is not. Sometimes we simply can’t understand the whole truth.

  A) COMPREHENSION TEST. Choose the right answer: a, b, c.

  1. Truth is the concordance between thought and

    a. ideas
    b. opinions
    c. appearances

  2. If a thought coincide with reality, it is

    a. debatable
    b. wrong
    c. true

 3. When we say: “stones are alive”, this is

    a. false
    b. true
    c. debatable

 4. If we say: three and three are six, this is

    a. wrong
    b. right
    c. debatable

 5. We can make mistakes because of our

    a. friends
    b. senses
    c. family

 6. When you say something and reality is very different, you

    a. telling the truth
    b. being honest
    c. lying




  3. The consensus

   Some people believe that the truth is what most of the people says about something. If people state that two plus two is four, they are obviously saying the truth. But if they say that the result is five, they are lying.

     The opinion of the majority is the consensus. If a boy says: most of my friends take drugs, so it must be good and I also will take it, that it is not true, because drugs are harmful and dangerous, and it not depends on what your friends believe or not.

    Because of that, the consensus or the opinion of most of the people is not a criterion of truth.

       Through history, great mistakes have been committed because people think they are right. Example: Nazis believe that kill Jews was a normal thing, because extermination camps were frequent during World War Two. But today we now that extermination camps were an aberration and a huge mistake. Nazis were wrong.

    4. Commentary

    MARÍA: Sometimes we are convinced by the majority of people and we act like them. I used to smoke because my friends did it, but later I quit.

     JUAN: Because the majority can’t be always right, and can’t have the truth.

     MARÍA: I read that in ancient times slavery was accepted. Later, Christians rejected slavery and today we now that slavery was an abomination and a great mistake.

    JUAN: And it’s not necessary to think in ancient times. In our times lot of people accept and are in favor of abortion, which means to kill boys and girls before they born. But others are in favor of life. I think that in a few years everybody will think that kill is a bad, wrong thing.

  B) COMPREHENSION TEST. Choose the right answer: a, b, c.

  1. Some people believe that the majority has

    a. their opinion
    b. the truth
    c. a mistake

  2. The opinion of most of the people is called

    a. consensus
    b. acceptance
    c. disagreement

 3. If most of the people say that drink alcohol is good, that is a

    a. a truth
    b. a mistake
    c. an acceptable argument

 4. Through history, some consensus were

    a. debatable
    b. uncertain
    c. great mistakes

 5. Majority has no the

    a. opinion
    b. doubt
    c. truth

 6. The consensus about slavery was

    a. an abomination and a mistake
    b. a well-done thing
    c. a truth


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| Educational applications | Philosophy | In Spanish | To print |

®Arturo Ramo García.-Record of intellectual property of Teruel (Spain) No 141, of 29-IX-1999
Plaza Playa de Aro, 3, 1º DO 44002-TERUEL