It's experiential not observational. — Tom Storm
Facts cannot turn out the be false. — Banno
But isn't that a bad way to use the word fact?I get that this is a sort of dictionary meaning, but there is an alternative usage that's roughly "to the best of our knowledge and with very high confidence". — Srap Tasmaner
But it can soon become quite complex, as when new evidence renders the proposition obsolete. Maybe a new fact comes about in which we'd have to conclude that the WWII ended in 1946 because of some technicality concerning some document arises. — Manuel
In science, 'fact' can only mean 'confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withhold provisional assent. — T Clark
Eh?Being true is what makes a statement a fact, assented to or not. — Banno
So the true is tentative? And, "turns out not to be true" means something else is true? It becomes a hall of mirrors.As you note, a fact is a statement that is true. Any definition of "fact" has to take into account that what we believe is a fact may turn out not to be true when we have more information. — T Clark
Fact comes from Latin factum, neuter past participle of facere ‘do’. The original sense was ‘an act’, something done. Something you can't change, by implication, because it belongs to the past.
So originally, a fact is an act. How did it come to mean 'a true statement' or 'an accurate observation'? This semantic transition happened in the 17th century, precisely when empiricism established itself as one of the pillars of modern science. (The other pillar being rationalism) — Olivier5
Facts cannot turn out the be false. — Banno
the doctrine that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes external to the will. Some philosophers have taken determinism to imply that individual human beings have no free will and cannot be held morally responsible for their actions. — Oxford languages
Most simply, because beliefs can serve purposes that facts and truth do not. To my way of thinking, a person gets a pass on his or her beliefs because they're a kind of private property. Of course, as you note, the problems come when believers want to impose on others. And this not confined to religion. It's on display in a nearby thread on abortion. And politics is riddled with it.How can anyone today believe — Athena
But changes in usage are inexorable, usually to the side of increasing ignorance. Probably because ignorance is the easier way. — tim wood
Most simply, because beliefs can serve purposes that facts and truth do not. To my way of thinking, a person gets a pass on his or her beliefs because they're a kind of private property. Of course, as you note, the problems come when believers want to impose on others. And this not confined to religion. It's on display in a nearby thread on abortion. And politics is riddled with it.
Here's a variety of it in action.
"I'm always right"
"I believe X."
"X is therefore a fact."
"X is therefore true."
"Therefore pay me."
A powerful argument, with so much wrong with it that it is hard to refute, and the Kelly-Annes of the world thrive feeding on in it. — tim wood
How can anyone today believe a god walked in a garden with a man and a woman and this is the beginning of our history? If that story is accepted as factual, isn't there a problem with our thinking? Like before scientific thinking why wouldn't everyone believe that story? There was not a method for thinking that would clarify the story as a myth, not a fact. Democracy is about reasoning and that is only possible when our minds are prepared to think independently and scientifically, right? — Athena
Citation, please. I can't find that.I have to stress- the word ignorance means to ignore something. — Athena
A functioning democracy is about functioning, not about adherence to some ideology or another. If a functioning democracy is one that allows for relatively peaceful (i.e. not subject to group violence) existence, then the measure is the extent to which it does that, not how that peace is achieved. — Ennui Elucidator
But isn't that a bad way to use the word fact? — Yohan
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