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38-470: Possibility is the condition or fact of being possible . Latin origins of the word hint at ability . Possibility may refer to: Fact A fact is a true datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance. Standard reference works are often used to check facts . Scientific facts are verified by repeatable careful observation or measurement by experiments or other means. For example, "This sentence contains words." accurately describes

76-661: A fact-finding commission"). Facts may be checked by reason, experiment, personal experience, or may be argued from authority. Roger Bacon wrote "If in other sciences we should arrive at certainty without doubt and truth without error, it behooves us to place the foundations of knowledge in mathematics." In philosophy , the concept fact is considered in the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge, called epistemology and ontology , which studies concepts such as existence , being , becoming , and reality . Questions of objectivity and truth are closely associated with questions of fact. A fact can be defined as something that

114-500: A linguistic fact, and "The sun is a star" accurately describes an astronomical fact. Further, " Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States" and "Abraham Lincoln was assassinated" both accurately describe historical facts. Generally speaking, facts are independent of belief and of knowledge and opinion . Facts are different from inferences , theories , values , and objects . The word fact derives from

152-408: A candid truth could be more certain than the world we are to judge its degree of correspondence against. On the other hand, as soon as the defender of the correspondence theory of truth offers a theory of the world, they are operating in some specific ontological or scientific theory, which stands in need of justification . But, the only way to support the truth of this world-theory that is allowed by

190-582: A long history in standard English according to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. The Oxford English Dictionary dates this use to 1729. Fact may also indicate findings derived through a process of evaluation , including review of testimony, direct observation, or otherwise; as distinguishable from matters of inference or speculation. This use is reflected in the terms "fact-find" and "fact-finder" (e.g., "set up

228-447: A person can wholeheartedly adopt a correspondence theory of truth. The rigorous idealist believes that there are no real, mind-independent objects. The correspondence theory appeals to imaginary undefined entities, so it is incoherent. Other positions hold that we have some type of awareness , perception , etc. of real-world objects which in some way falls short of direct knowledge of them. But such an indirect awareness or perception

266-464: A priori and scientific method. The term fact also indicates a matter under discussion deemed to be true or correct, such as to emphasize a point or prove a disputed issue; (e.g., "... the fact of the matter is ..."). Alternatively, fact may also indicate an allegation or stipulation of something that may or may not be a true fact , (e.g., "the author's facts are not trustworthy"). This alternate usage, although contested by some, has

304-509: A relationship between thoughts or statements on one hand, and things or facts on the other. Correspondence theory is a traditional model which goes back at least to some of the ancient Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle . This class of theories holds that the truth or the falsity of a representation is determined solely by how it relates to a reality; that is, by whether it accurately describes that reality. As Aristotle claims in his Metaphysics : "To say that that which is,

342-406: A safeguard against contingencies such as res judicata that would otherwise preclude presenting a claim or defense that depends on a particular interpretation of the underlying facts and ruling of the court. Correspondence theory of truth Correspondence theories claim that true beliefs and true statements correspond to the actual state of affairs . This type of theory attempts to posit

380-431: A statement, to be true, must have some kind of structural isomorphism with the state of affairs in the world that makes it true. For example, "A cat is on a mat" is true if, and only if, there is in the world a cat and a mat and the cat is related to the mat by virtue of being on it. If any of the three pieces (the cat, the mat, and the relation between them which correspond respectively to the subject, object, and verb of

418-482: A true statement and the state of affairs that makes it true. It is only necessary that the semantics of the language in which the statement is expressed are such as to correlate whole-for-whole the statement with the state of affairs. A false statement, for Austin, is one that is correlated by the language to a state of affairs that does not exist. Historically, most advocates of correspondence theories have been metaphysical realists ; that is, they believe that there

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456-412: Is (in fact) the case if its antecedent is (in fact) true—for example, "If you drink this, it will make you well." Such sentences are important to modal logic , especially since the development of possible world semantics. In mathematics, a fact is a statement (called a theorem ) that can be proven by logical argument from certain axioms and definitions . The definition of a scientific fact

494-503: Is about the fact that Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Pascal Engel's version of the correspondence theory of truth explains that what makes a sentence true is that it corresponds to a fact. This theory presupposes the existence of an objective world. The Slingshot argument claims to show that all true statements stand for the same thing, the truth value true . If this argument holds, and facts are taken to be what true statements stand for, then one arrives at

532-514: Is History? argues that the inherent biases from the gathering of facts makes the objective truth of any historical perspective idealistic and impossible. Facts are, "like fish in the Ocean", of which we may only happen to catch a few, only an indication of what is below the surface. Even a dragnet cannot tell us for certain what it would be like to live below the Ocean's surface. Even if we do not discard any facts (or fish) presented, we will always miss

570-459: Is a world external to the minds of all humans. This is in contrast to metaphysical idealists who hold that everything that exists, exists as a substantial metaphysical entity independently of the individual thing of which it is predicated, and also to conceptualists who hold that everything that exists is, in the end, just an idea in some mind. However, it is not strictly necessary that a correspondence theory be married to metaphysical realism. It

608-438: Is different from the definition of fact, as it implies knowledge . A scientific fact is the result of a repeatable careful observation or measurement by experimentation or other means, also called empirical evidence . These are central to building scientific theories . Various forms of observation and measurement lead to fundamental questions about the scientific method , and the scope and validity of scientific reasoning . In

646-577: Is itself an idea in one's mind, so that the correspondence theory of truth reduces to a correspondence between ideas about truth and ideas of the world, whereupon it becomes a coherence theory of truth . Either the defender of the correspondence theory of truth offers some accompanying theory of the world, or they do not. If no theory of the world is offered, the argument is so vague as to be useless or even unintelligible: truth would then be supposed to be correspondence to some undefined, unknown or ineffable world. It would in this case be difficult to see how

684-460: Is not, and that which is not, is, is a falsehood; therefore, to say that which is, is, and that which is not, is not, is true". A classic example of correspondence theory is the statement by the medieval philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas : " Veritas est adaequatio rei et intellectus " ("Truth is the adequation of things and intellect "), which Aquinas attributed to the ninth-century Neoplatonist Isaac Israeli . Correspondence theory

722-451: Is possible to hold, for example, that the facts of the world determine which statements are true and to also hold that the world (and its facts) is but a collection of ideas in the mind of some supreme being . One attack on the theory claims that the correspondence theory succeeds in its appeal to the real world only in so far as the real world is reachable by us. The direct realist believes that we directly know objects as they are. Such

760-494: Is such a place as Paris, there is such a place as France, there are such things as capital cities, as well as that France has a government, that the government of France has the power to define its capital city, and that the French government has chosen Paris to be the capital, that there is such a thing as a place or a government , and so on. The verifiable accuracy of all of these assertions, if facts themselves, may coincide to create

798-412: Is the case, in other words, a state of affairs . Facts may be understood as information , which makes a true sentence true: "A fact is, traditionally, the worldly correlate of a true proposition, a state of affairs whose obtaining makes that proposition true." Facts may also be understood as those things to which a true sentence refers. The statement "Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system"

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836-535: Is used in both senses in the philosophy of science. Scholars and clinical researchers in both the social and natural sciences have written about numerous questions and theories that arise in the attempt to clarify the fundamental nature of scientific fact. Pertinent issues raised by this inquiry include: Consistent with the idea of confirmation holism , some scholars assert "fact" to be necessarily "theory-laden" to some degree. Thomas Kuhn points out that knowing what facts to measure, and how to measure them, requires

874-478: The naturalistic fallacy . Factuality —what has occurred—can also be contrasted with counterfactuality: what might have occurred, but did not. A counterfactual conditional or subjunctive conditional is a conditional (or "if–then") statement indicating what would be the case if events had been other than they were. For example, "If Alexander had lived, his empire would have been greater than Rome." This contrasts with an indicative conditional, which indicates what

912-685: The Latin factum . It was first used in English with the same meaning: "a thing done or performed" – a meaning now obsolete. The common usage of "something that has really occurred or is the case" dates from the mid-16th century. Barbara J. Shapiro wrote in her book A Culture of Fact how the concept of a fact evolved, starting within the English legal tradition of the 16th century. In 1870, Charles Sanders Peirce described in his book "The Fixation of Belief" four methods which people use to decide what they should believe: tenacity, method of authority,

950-403: The case to be derived from a series of statements of what is the case. This is called the is–ought distinction . Those who insist there is a logical gulf between facts and values , such that it is fallacious to attempt to derive values (e.g., "it is good to give food to hungry people") from facts (e.g., "people will die if they can't eat"), include G. E. Moore , who called attempting to do so

988-508: The correspondence theory. According to Bhikhu Parekh, Karl Marx also subscribed to a version of the correspondence theory. In contemporary Continental philosophy , Edmund Husserl defended the correspondence theory. In contemporary analytic philosophy , Bertrand Russell , Ludwig Wittgenstein (at least in his early period ), J. L. Austin , and Karl Popper defended the correspondence theory. Bertrand Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein have in different ways suggested that

1026-426: The counter-intuitive conclusion that there is only one fact: the truth . Any non-trivial true statement about reality is necessarily an abstraction composed of a complex of objects and properties or relations . Facts "possess internal structure, being complexes of objects and properties or relations". For example, the fact described by the true statement "Paris is the capital city of France" implies that there

1064-405: The fact, that Paris is the capital of France. Difficulties arise, however, in attempting to identify the constituent parts of negative, modal, disjunctive, or moral facts. Moral philosophers since David Hume have debated whether values are objective, and thus factual. In A Treatise of Human Nature Hume pointed out there is no obvious way for a series of statements about what ought to be

1102-482: The general concept and analysis of fact reflects fundamental principles of jurisprudence , and is supported by several well-established standards. Matters of fact have various formal definitions under common law jurisdictions. These include: A party (e.g., plaintiff ) to a civil suit generally must clearly state the relevant allegations of fact that form the basis of a claim . The requisite level of precision and particularity of these allegations varies, depending on

1140-416: The majority; the site of our fishing, the methods undertaken, the weather and even luck play a vital role in what we will catch. Additionally, the composition of history is inevitably made up by the compilation of many different biases of fact finding – all compounded over time. He concludes that for a historian to attempt a more objective method, one must accept that history can only aspire to a conversation of

1178-433: The means and assumptions used to measure them. Apart from the fundamental inquiry into the nature of scientific fact, there remain the practical and social considerations of how fact is investigated, established, and substantiated through the proper application of the scientific method. Scientific facts are generally believed independent of the observer: no matter who performs a scientific experiment, all observers agree on

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1216-471: The most basic sense, a scientific fact is an objective and verifiable observation, in contrast with a hypothesis or theory , which is intended to explain or interpret facts. Various scholars have offered significant refinements to this basic formulation. Philosophers and scientists are careful to distinguish between: 1) states of affairs in the external world and 2) assertions of fact that may be considered relevant in scientific analysis. The term

1254-434: The outcome. In addition to these considerations, there are the social and institutional measures, such as peer review and accreditation, that are intended to promote factual accuracy among other interests in scientific study. A common rhetorical cliché states, " History is written by the winners ". This phrase suggests but does not examine the use of facts in the writing of history. E. H. Carr in his 1961 volume What

1292-590: The present with the past – and that one's methods of fact gathering should be openly examined. The set of highlighted historical facts, and their interpretations, therefore changes over time, and reflect present consensuses. This section of the article emphasizes common law jurisprudence as primarily represented in Anglo-American–based legal tradition. Nevertheless, the principles described herein have analogous treatment in other legal systems such as civil law systems as well. In most common law jurisdictions,

1330-406: The rules of civil procedure and jurisdiction. Parties who face uncertainties regarding facts and circumstances attendant to their side in a dispute may sometimes invoke alternative pleading. In this situation, a party may plead separate sets of facts that when considered together may be contradictory or mutually exclusive. This seemingly logically-inconsistent presentation of facts may be necessary as

1368-435: The statement) is missing, the statement is false. Some sentences pose difficulties for this model, however. As just one example, adjectives such as "counterfeit", "alleged", or "false" do not have the usual simple meaning of restricting the meaning of the noun they modify: a "tall lawyer" is a kind of lawyer, but an "alleged lawyer" may not be. J. L. Austin theorized that there need not be any structural parallelism between

1406-410: The use of other theories. For example, the age of fossils is based on radiometric dating , which is justified by reasoning that radioactive decay follows a Poisson process rather than a Bernoulli process . Similarly, Percy Williams Bridgman is credited with the methodological position known as operationalism , which asserts that all observations are not only influenced, but necessarily defined, by

1444-462: Was either explicitly or implicitly embraced by most of the early modern thinkers, including René Descartes , Baruch Spinoza , John Locke , Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz , David Hume , and Immanuel Kant . (However, Spinoza and Kant have also been [mis]interpreted as defenders of the coherence theory of truth .) Correspondence theory has also been attributed to Thomas Reid . In late modern philosophy , Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling espoused

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