Question

I cannot for the life of me figure out the definitions of the correspondence, coherence, pragmatic and semantic theories of truth. I've tried deciphering the definitions from my textbook but I still can't wrap my head around it. I need someone to dumb it down for me. Thank you in advance.

Answer 1

• Correspondence theories of truth maintain that a proposition is true only when it is consistent with some non-propositional state of affairs. The proposition that it is raining outside is true just in case it is really raining outside. The truth maker (or breaker) is the actual state of affairs. The truth bearer is the proposition.
• Those who subscribe to this theory will often say something like, a proposition is true when it corresponds to the facts, usually understanding "facts" as external, mind-independent, objective states of affairs.
• Correspondence theory is basically naive realism - the truth of a statement is determined by whether or not it corresponds to some state of affairs in objective reality (such as the existence of an object).
• An example;There is a container of milk in the refrigerator. To determine whether or not this is true all one needs to do is to go to the refrigerator and check. Would the claim be true if:

  There is a bottle of milk there?
  There is a wax container of milk there.
  There is a wax container of powdered milk there?
  There is a wax container of Parmalat there?

• Some answer yes it would be true in all 4 cases . Some think it is only true in case b. It all depends on what you mean by "container". For some it means a wax container. For others it may mean any object that holds any sort of contents.

• Coherence theory is a bit more nuanced, there are several variations on it. The basic idea is that the truth of a statement is determined by how well that statement fits with other statements, how consistent it is.

• If extended to include statements about the future (predictions) and to cover all statements it would describe science quite well. A good theory as long as you remember that it is about experience, potential and actual, rather than about reality itself.
• Pragmatic theory  is the belief that a proposition is true when acting upon it yields satisfactory practical results. As formulated by William James, the pragmatic theory promises (in the long term) a convergence of human opinions upon a stable body of scientific propositions that have been shown in experience to be successful principles for human action. Examines how beliefs work in practice, the practical difference.
• Truth of a belief is determined by evaluating how well the belief satisfies the whole of human nature over a long period of time: how well does it work.
• Semantic theory;belief that any claim that a proposition is true can be made only as a formal requirement regarding the language in which the proposition itself is expressed. Thus, according to Tarski, "It rained today" is true if and only if it rained today. The distinction between different levels of language employed by this theory is presumed to offer a convenient evasion of otherwise troublesome semantic paradoxes.