Truth

Philosophical Perspectives on Truth: Inflationary Theories

Inflationary theories are those that state that truth is an actual or substantive property that a statement or proposition possesses. For example, a statement that “the snow is white” can be true or false. Truth (or falsehood) is a property of that statement. Unlike deflationary and epistemic theories, inflationary theories focus on the very nature of truth itself. The three major inflationary theories are correspondence theory, coherence theory, and pragmatist theory.

Correspondence theory states that a proposition is true if it is in correspondence with reality. An assertion that “the snow is white” is only true if it corresponds to the reality that snow is in fact white. The basic form of this theory can be traced as far back as the definitions of truth proposed by Aristotle in Metaphysics and Plato in Sophist. This theoretical definition has been criticized because it requires a concrete and comprehensive understanding of reality in which to check for correspondence, a so-called god's-eye view. Nevertheless, correspondence theory is the oldest and most generally accepted of the theories of truth, serving essentially as a default definition of truth for most people. The logic underlying correspondence theory is very similar to the logic guiding modern scientific theory and its pursuit of truth.

Correspondence theory typically involves a distinction between truth-bearers and truth-makers. While the particulars of these two constructs may vary across different incarnations of correspondence theory, there is a general consensus as to their meaning and use. Truth-bearer is a title given to any entity that may have a truth value, either true or false. Possible truth-bearers include sentences, ideas, and propositions. Truth-maker is a title given to any entity that makes a truth-bearer true. Possible truth-makers include facts, events, and states of affairs that correspond with the truth-bearer. For example, the statement “snow is white” is a truth-bearer, the fact that snow is actually white is the truth-maker.

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