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Single Idea 4901

[from 'Knowledge, Possibility and Consciousness' by John Perry, in 3. Truth / C. Correspondence Truth / 1. Correspondence Truth ]

Full Idea

I think knowledge and truth are a matter of correspondence to facts, despite all the energy spent showing the naïveté of this view. The connections of our ideas in our heads correspond to relations in the outside world.

Gist of Idea

Truth has to be correspondence to facts, and a match between relations of ideas and relations in the world

Source

John Perry (Knowledge, Possibility and Consciousness [2001], §8.1)

Book Reference

Perry,John: 'Knowledge, Possibility and Consciousness' [MIT 2001], p.175


A Reaction

Yes. Modern books offer the difficulties of defining 'correspondence', and finding an independent account of 'facts', as conclusive objections, but I say a brain is a truth machine, and it had better be useful. Indefinability doesn't nullify concepts.