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THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH

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two uses of 'truth. as an abstract noun, referring to the concept of truth, trueness (or: the ... there is non-gradational vagueness, eg., of buzzwords like 'funky' ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH


1
THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH
  • SUSAN HAACK
  • ltshaack_at_law.miami.edugt

2
Much truth is spoken, that more may be
concealed Mr. Justice Darling
3
two uses of truth
  • as an abstract noun, referring to the concept of
    truth, trueness (or the meaning of true and
    its synonyms in other languages)
  • as a concrete noun, referring to beliefs,
    propositions, statements, theories, etc., that
    are true

4
in the second, concrete use
  • the word takes the indefinite article, a truth
  • the plural form, truths

5
for example
it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a
single man in possession of a good fortune must
be in want of a wife. Jane Austen, Pride and
Prejudice
6

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that
all men are created equal . American
Declaration of independence
7
1. Trouble with Truth Truths
  • we speak of true propositions, beliefs, etc., but
    also of
  • true friends, true believers ( faithful)
  • true likenesses (as of passport photo)

8
we also say things like
  • the frog is not a true reptile ( not really a
    reptile)
  • these plants breed true ( the offspring are
    just like the parents)
  • truing the wheels on a bicycle ( straightening
    them)

9
no doubt related to the locution
out of true ( askew, crooked), as with a
picture hung at an angle
10
a famous movie is called
True Grit ( real determination) from the
metaphor/idiom gritting your teeth
11
truth cant be identified
  • with acceptance-as-true
  • nor with belief, not even warranted belief
  • nor with agreement
  • nor with sincerity

12
the belief that Smith is either a liar or a fool
is true if Smith is either a liar or a fool and
not otherwise Frank Ramsey
13
Ramseys account
  • though often called a redundancy theory
  • does NOT say it is true that is redundant
  • it is not redundant e.g., in Plato said some
    true things and some false things

14
it might be better called
the laconicist theory since laconic in
English means terse, short
derives from the Greek word Laconia, the name
for the ancient city-state of Sparta
15
it is not a complete theory
  • it requires an account of propositional
    quantifiers, which must not itself rely on the
    concept of truth
  • it leaves open large questions about
    representation (what makes this the proposition
    that p) reality

16
but it suffices to explain
  • what I mean by saying that there are many truths,
    but only one truth(-concept)
  • that some truths are about things of our
    making, but truth is independent of us, objective

17
  • that some truths make sense only relative to
    culture, community, legal system, etc.
  • but truth is not relative

18
for example
  • it was once true, but since 1832 is no longer
    true, that in English law the penalty for
    stealing a sheep was death
  • this is the origin of the expression might as
    well be hung for a sheep as a lamb

19
i.e.
if youre going to take a big risk, better it be
for the chance of a big reward than a small one!
20
or, another example
  • it was true until January 2005, but is no longer
    true
  • that in Michigan law the standard of
    admissibility of novel scientific testimony was
    general acceptance in the field to which it
    belongs

21
again
  • while some truths are vague, truth is not a
    matter of degree
  • while some truths are partial, truth does not
    decompose into parts

22
there are many kinds of vagueness
  • of predicates (tall, bald, intelligent)
  • of nouns (heap, crowd)
  • of adverbs (fairly, normally)
  • of quantifiers (a few, many, several)

23
  • there is non-gradational vagueness, eg., of
    buzzwords like funky
  • the vagueness of philosophical terms that have
    lost meaning through multiple ambiguity
    (realism, relativism, reliabilism)

24
there are two meanings of partially true
  • part of p is true as in she was poor but
    she was honest if she was poor, but not honest,
    or honest but not poor
  • p is part of the truth in this sense every
    proposition is only partially true

25
so, what are we asking
  • when we require a witness to tell the truth, the
    whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
  • not that he tell the whole truth about
    everything
  • but that he tell the truth, as he believes it to
    be, without relevant omissions

26
that some propositions are only partly true
  • doesnt mean truth decomposes into parts
  • a partial truth in the 1st sense (true in part)
    is, strictly, just plain false
  • a partial truth in the 2nd sense (part of the
    truth) is, strictly, just plain true

27
2. Problems with Partial Truth, Some Vagaries
of Vagueness
  • this throws light on the question of truth in
    history
  • any account of a past event is bound to be
    incomplete, convey only part of the truth about
    what really happened

28
  • may mislead because of its incompleteness, but
  • that doesnt mean that no historical account can
    be true (so far as it goes)

29
why is incomplete evidence misleading?
If I knew what was important to know and what
wasnt, Id have this thing pretty much solved
Spenser, Robert B. Parkers laconic private
detective
Robert B. Parker
30
of course
There are the knowns, the unknowns, and the
unknown unknowns Donald Rumsfeld, former U.S.
Secretary of Defense
31
a novelist makes the point precisely
The truth is not a line from here to there,
and not ever-widening circles like the rings on a
sawn log, but rather trails of overlapping
liquids that poured forth but then assumed a
shape and life of their own, that circled around
in spirals and fluctuations to touch and color
all truths that came out after that. Jeffrey
Lent
32
this is exactly what happens in the novel, as
more truths come out
33
now we see
  • a connection between out of true and slanted
  • why partial means both incomplete and
    biased
  • why colorable has two almost opposite meanings

34
vagueness may be
  • inadvertent, or deliberate
  • if deliberate
  • benign, or
  • intended to evade or mislead

35
similarly
  • partial truth may be inadvertent or deliberate
  • if deliberate
  • benign (e.g., tactful)
  • or intended to deceive

36
It is not in human nature to deceive others, for
any long time, without, in a measure, deceiving
ourselves Cardinal Newman
37
It is not in human nature to fudge issues to
others, for any long time, without, in a measure,
fudging them in ones own mind too SH
38
as I see it
  • deliberately (or quasi-deliberately) withholding
    part of the truth, with benign intent
  • is analogous to a white lie
  • i.e., a small lie told to avoid hurting someones
    feelings

39
but
  • deliberately or quasi-deliberately withholding
    part of the truth with intent to deceive
  • is just as bad as a plain old black lie

40
however
  • telling only part of the truth is psychologically
    easier than flat-out lying
  • because you can tell yourself you arent lying
  • after all, everything you say is true!

41
one example of many
  • drug companies have no obligation to publish
    unfavorable studies
  • in fact often publish only the good news
  • as a result of which doctors have prescribed a
    drug when it is inappropriate or even dangerous

42
a commentator observes
Too often, chief executives sugarcoat the truth.
Thats more dangerous than ever Many times
its the thing not said that gets a CEO in
trouble
43
sadly
  • deliberate and quasi-deliberate deception by
    partial truth seems ubiquitous much commoner
    than the Lie Direct
  • in business, in advertising, in politics
  • even, Im afraid, in universities

44
thank you for your invitation, and for your
attention!
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