Fact

Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, University of Applied Sciences in Konin, Poland
barbara.lewandowska-tomaszczyk@konin.edu.pl

Facts are assumed to be the objects of mental states and acts. There is often a question of a relationship between facts and truth. There are numerous scholars juxtaposing these two concepts. A fact is, for Russell, for example, a part of reality. Russell holds that ‘humanism unconsciously admits the objective sense of truth, the sense which may be called fact. For it must be the fact that our purposes are furthered by entertaining the belief’ (1907/2014: 462). Frege proposes that facts are true truth-bearers. He writes in 1918 that a ‘fact is a thought that is true’. A fact is thus a statement that can be proven or verified, though it is not logically disputed or rejected, while truth is a broader concept that can include subjective beliefs and experiences. Facts are objective and based on evidence, while truth can be subjective and based on personal perspective. Facts are concrete and verifiable, while truth can be abstract and open to interpretation.

A fact is a statement that can be proven true or false based on empirical evidence or objective reality. Truth is a broader, more philosophical concept, referring to the state or quality of being in accord with fact or reality; and it can be subjective or intersubjective based on perception or belief systems. Truth is more of a subjective situation that depends on current issues and challenges. A fact is a confirmed observation situation while truth is related to beliefs. While facts are proven identities, truths are based on values and beliefs. For example, Ten Hagen considers both truth and fact to be fluid concepts, inviting different interpretations and roles of facts in different contexts.

Keywords: belief, fact, truth, verification

Related Entries: Fact-checking, Interpretation, Objectivity

References:
Frege, G. (1988). Thoughts (First published 1918). In N. Salmon & S. Soames (Eds.), Propositions and attitudes (pp. 289–311). Oxford University Press.
Mulligan, K., & Correia, F. (2021). Facts. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (Winter 2021 Edition). Stanford University.
Russell, B. (2014). The nature of truth (Originally published 1907). In G. H. Moore (Ed.), The collected papers of Bertrand Russell, Volume 5: Toward “Principia Mathematica”, 1905–08 (pp. 455–464). Routledge.
Russell, B. (1961). Fact and fiction. George Allen & Unwin.
Ten Hagen, S. L. (2019). How “facts” shaped modern disciplines: The fluid concept of fact and the common origins of German physics and historiography. Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences, 49(3), 300–337. https://doi.org/10.1525/hsns.2019.49.3.300