The Coherence Theory of Truth

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The cash value of ideas was the slogan that I was talking about. The same thing. It's like the things which in the end, how does this belief play out in my life, in my actions? What good is it for me? In a scientific context, that will often be seen as linked to empiricism. And so that would be the practice of the theory of truth. A belief is true just in case it would fit into that very, very complex. No doubt will always be hypothetical, but hypothetical totality of beliefs.

Everybody talks about the truth, but nobody does anything about it. And to be honest, how we talk about truth — what it is, and how to get there — can be a little sloppy at times. Philosophy to the rescue! I had a very ambitious conversation with Liam Kofi Bright, starting with what we mean by “truth” (correspondence, coherence, pragmatist, and deflationary approaches), and then getting into the nitty-gritty of how we actually discover it. There’s a lot to think about once we take a hard look at how science gets done, how discoveries are communicated, and what different kinds of participants can bring to the table.

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Liam Kofi Bright received his Ph.D. in Logic, Computation and Methodology from Carnegie Mellon University. He is currently on the faculty of the London School of Economics in the Department of Philosophy, Logic, and the Scientific Method. He has worked on questions concerning peer review and fraud in scientific communities, intersectionality, logical empiricism, and Africana philosophy. He is well-known on Twitter as the Last Positivist.

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