Fact

Facts: The Cornerstone of Truth

Imagine you’re building a house; the foundation is crucial for its stability. Similarly, facts are the bedrock upon which our understanding of reality rests. A fact is a true datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance—think of it as a solid brick in your knowledge wall.

Standard reference works are often used to check facts, much like how architects consult blueprints for accuracy. Scientific facts, on the other hand, are verified by repeatable careful observation or measurement through experiments or other means. These methods ensure that what we believe is true isn’t just a guess but a well-substantiated truth.

Facts are independent of belief and knowledge; they exist whether you believe in them or not. They’re distinct from inferences, theories, values, and objects. Just as a tree stands tall regardless of the weather, facts remain constant even when our beliefs fluctuate like the wind.

The word ‘fact’ derives from the Latin ‘factum,’ which originally referred to actions. This usage is now obsolete outside the law, but the common usage dates back to the mid-16th century. Over time, the concept of fact evolved within the English legal tradition, shaping how we understand and use this term today.

Deciding What to Believe

In 1870, Charles Sanders Peirce described four methods for deciding what to believe: observation, experiment, argument, and authority. The term ‘fact’ can indicate a matter deemed true or correct, an allegation or stipulation, or findings derived through evaluation and review.

Facts are often used in standard English to emphasize points or prove disputed issues. However, this usage is contested by some. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the alternate use of ‘fact’ to 1729. Facts can be understood as information or as things to which a true sentence refers. The correspondence theory of truth explains that what makes a sentence true is that it corresponds to a fact, presupposing an objective world.

Facts possess internal structure, being complexes of objects and properties or relations. Compound facts are non-trivial true statements about reality composed of complex objects and properties or relations. Difficulties arise in identifying the constituent parts of negative, modal, disjunctive, or moral facts. These complexities make it challenging to break down every fact into its simplest components.

The Fact-Value Distinction

The fact-value distinction is a debate among moral philosophers regarding whether values are objective and factual. The is-ought distinction suggests that it’s fallacious to attempt to derive values from facts. G.E. Moore called this the naturalistic fallacy, emphasizing that we cannot simply assume that what is (a fact) must be how things ought to be.

The factual-counterfactual distinction contrasts what has occurred with what might have occurred but did not. A counterfactual conditional or subjunctive conditional is a statement indicating what would be the case if events had been other than they were. This concept helps us understand possibilities and their implications, even when those scenarios never materialize.

Scientific Facts: The Empirical Evidence

In mathematics, a fact is a statement that can be proven by logical argument from certain axioms and definitions. In science, the definition of a scientific fact is different; it implies knowledge derived from repeatable careful observation or measurement through experimentation or other means, also called empirical evidence.

Scholars have offered refinements to the basic formulation of a scientific fact, including questions about how ‘established fact’ becomes recognized and accepted. Whether facts are independent from theories, and how history and consensus influence factual conclusions. Even a dragnet cannot capture all information about living below the ocean’s surface due to factors like weather, luck, and biases in fact-finding.

Law: The Pillar of Facts

In law, common law jurisprudence emphasizes facts and has established standards. Matters of fact include elements required in legal pleadings, determinations of the finder of fact in trials or hearings, potential grounds for reversible error on appeal, and investigations by official authority to determine culpability.

A party’s allegations of fact must be clearly stated in a civil suit, and parties may invoke alternative pleading if they face uncertainties about facts. This highlights how critical it is to establish clear and verifiable facts in legal proceedings, ensuring that justice is based on truth rather than speculation or bias.

Understanding facts is not just about knowing what’s true; it’s about building a robust framework for knowledge and truth. Just as a house needs a solid foundation, our understanding of the world requires a firm grasp on facts. By recognizing their importance and how they shape our reality, we can navigate the complexities of information with greater clarity and accuracy.