If the SCOTUS proceedings were adjudicated by philosophers they would be asking "would such allegations from a nominee's youthful past ,if assumed to be true, be serious enough to discount a nominee?" If it was deemed "no" then the "truth" is immaterial. Would make for a helluva discussion - would love to hear the Republican side of it.

I think THE truth is that Kavanaugh genuinely believes his past actions from his youth (as truthfully spelled out by Ford) are not seriously bad enough (or that he has sufficiently reformed) to warrant his standing down. I think astute human beings of whatever political persuasion could agree on that - his state of mind, that is.