In modern society, the image has a significant role and determines the attitude of people to an individual or organization. Thus, this phenomenon is strongly connected with the truth, which becomes an integral part of it. To study this aspect, various theoretical approaches are used, providing a more detailed understanding. In order for an event to be considered valid, it must coincide with specific facts. For this, photography is widely used, which helps to capture the necessary events. Truth is a huge topic with philosophers trying to define it in different ways. This paper aims to look at the truth and the theories of truth used by philosophers to get the definition of the ideal meaning of it. This research further looks at photography as a tool of truth and its impact in today’s world.
Truth Bearers
Of particular importance in understanding the truth and its concepts are the bearers of the truth. They are defined as the different kind of things likes beliefs that are attributed to truth (Moltmann, 2021). A primary truth bearer refers to a certain utterance on a specific context that makes something to be true or false (Raatikainen, 2021). Although this is not true all the time, it is argued that there are some sentences that might be uttered. Therefore, it may not be clear whether they are true or false.
Theories of Truth
Classical Correspondence Theory
Classical correspondence theory underlines that truth is a proposition that lies in reality or the agreement of a truth bearer. The reality, in this case, might be a picture or other things that correspond with reality (Raatikainen, 2021). An example is a proposition that this is a picture of a car, which is true if both the picture and the car are accurate. This idea of truth was a default view in philosophy, as seen in the works of Plato, Aristotle, and other modern philosophers. However, judgment was not done regarding the facts but was in terms of the object. The philosopher Russel brought the classical formulation of facts. He stated that life is true when it corresponds with a certain fact and is false if facts do not correspond (Raatikainen, 2021). He argues that for existence, beliefs depend on minds, unlike truth (Raatikainen, 2021). Therefore, this makes the theory look like there must be facts or a state of affairs for it to be either true or false. Nevertheless, the correspondence tries to give a correlation between the proposition’s true value and the aspects of reality.
Coherence Theory
In the coherence theory of truth, the truthfulness of a truth bearer should correspond with other propositions or truth bearers but not with reality. This theory is based on truth cohering with other beliefs for it to be true (Raatikainen, 2021). This theory has faced critics since it’s possible to create a system of beliefs even from a false proposition, thus making it vulnerable (Raatikainen, 2021). Although the critics might be right, it is objected that for coherency to exist, there must be a specific set of beliefs. Nonetheless, in a system of beliefs, it is possible to avoid false beliefs since there are a set of true beliefs that are equally coherent with the large set of true beliefs.
As with any other theoretical approach, this theory has some implications that require consideration. The theories defenders have tried to avoid problems by stating that, firstly, one might consider coherence as something stronger (Kaur, 2018). That is, for the coherence of something, there must be no other perceived notion of truth. Secondly, for coherency to be true, it must adhere to a set of beliefs in a system. However, the truth might cohere with many beliefs, which is contradictory to assuming that all the beliefs are true. Lastly, it is a fact that people have contradicting set of beliefs about various things. The urge to qualify a certain belief of a subject could result inconsistency of coherence.
Pragmatist Theories of Truth
Charles Pierce was the advocate of the pragmatist theory of truth. According to James, truth is something that works or is useful (Raatikainen, 2021). In that, something is true if it is useful by believing in it. Pragmatist theory may shift the attention from what is true to what people consider or describe as true. The theory further views a link between human practices or experiences and truth. Believing in truth can be useful, but its utility cannot be sufficient or necessary for it to be true. The pragmatist theory does not have a radical subject because the belief is not true just because the person believes it. In terms of usefulness, James meant when all things are considered, truth is useful and has been for a long time. It is unclear if James identified truth as useful since his other philosophers certainly did not. Unlike correspondence theories which view truth as a result of a truth bearer, in this theory, truth is viewed as a function of people’s commitment and the practices they engage themselves.
Epistemic Theories of Truth
The epistemic theory views truth as connected to epistemic concepts like justification, verification, and so much more. In this epistemic theory, the concept of truth is to be defined in such a notion. For instance, James, a pragmatist philosopher, states that a belief is valid as long it is verified (“William James – On pragmatism,” n.d.). This, in turn, makes truth a temporal thing because a belief is only true unless it is verified. Pierce argued that truth is an opinion that can be agreed to by those investigating.
Despite the epistemic theories being popular, they face a lot of problems. The verification process does not fit the role of the primary concept since, even in science, some truths can only achieve confirmation by observation. Epistemic theory truth has a challenge since it can be misleading. An example is when an innocent person is found guilty from the evidence collected. This will be considered true, and no amount of inquiry will change the truth unless the evidence points otherwise. For ideal epistemic conditions, one must possess the statement’s evidence. If not, some additional evidence might refute the statement. The theory has become less popular due to the accumulation of problems associated with it.
Formal Approaches of Truth
The meaning of truth has brought a lot of skeptics to philosophers in the early twentieth century. Alfred Tarski’s tried to change the narrative by trying to add logico-mathematical to find the definition of the truth. Tarski’s concept was to distinguish what he referred to as metalanguage and object language (“The semantic theory of truth,” n.d.). Object language refers to the language that is talked about, while metalanguage is used to refer to the object language. The study of principles that govern truth might seem logical, although they might turn out to be false. The study of formal theories of truth is complex as compared to other principles. Due to this complexity, formal theories are rich and complex in their own way.
Deflationist and Minimalist Theories
The deflationist and minimal list theory do not share the same since, according to it, the truth has no nature for it to be revealed, nor is it a substantial thing that can do explanatory work. Tarski’s sentences involve the equivalence of materials, while deflationism holds an analyticity virtue (Raatikainen, 2021). Horwich, in later years, had a long deflationist defense stating that truth exists as a result of logical need (Raatikainen, 2021). Other deflationists considered truth as a non-explanatory proper that is not genuine. The theory contends with this, and it further serves logical purposes. Every theory faces a lot of paradoxes; that is why the deflationist has difficulties in solving these paradoxes.
Developments in the Correspondence Theory
Correspondence theory is the most popular viewed by philosophers and has evolved over a long period. During the development of correspondence theory, there were other either solid or poor correspondence theories. In weak correspondence, the truth bearer correlates with the state of affairs. Strong correspondence, referred to as correspondence-as-isomorphism, views an isomorphism between the state of affairs and truth bearers, and if the two correspond, then they are true. The weaker idea does not assume such since they correlate as a whole. In weak correspondence, the idea of truth solely depends on how things are. Logical atomism emphasizes that there are some truth-bearers whose truth is in line with the correspondence. The complexity of the truth-bearers is a result of language, which is determine by the logic and values of atomic parts.
Truth
For a long time, philosophers have tried their best to give the actual meaning of what is truth. Truth becomes hard to define since it is a fundamental concept and must be employed in theoretical inquiry. In any theory, truth must come up when trying to question its concept. Truth is central to logic and knowledge since it only relies on the knowledge of the person telling the truth. In short, the truth lies in the person’s perspective of things. Truth is further associated with a belief since something is as accurate as the people’s belief. It comprises od convictions that become more difficult to justify when observation is made. Thus, truth is consistent since some beliefs considered to be trustworthy are now false. Truth helps us decide how to act in our daily lives by making sense of this complicated world. The prevalent thing in the history of philosophy is that their concept of truth corresponds with reality. The urge of trying to know what truth is has led to philosophers trying to define it using a lot of theories.
Untrue
When something is not true is said to be untrue or false since it diverges away from truth. Humans have a tendency to believe or get convinced that others are telling the truth through the emotions the deceiver displays. When one lies, they have the intention of doing so if they have something to gain from doing so. For instance, politicians lie during campaigns in order to convince people because by telling the truth they risk losing the support from the society.
Post-True
Post-true refers to deliberately altering the truth by using emotions to change people’s opinions on something. Post-true is primarily used in politics, thus bringing up terms like fake news. It is mainly found in political speech when they use it to gain support from the people. Politicians make many promises to the masses even though they promise impossible things. People might seem to be threatened when it comes to admitting some facts. Therefore, lying becomes an option since when they admit to those facts may threaten their interests, for instance, a politician (Backstrom, 2019). When trying to understand the notion of post-truth, the term fake news comes up. Fake news has been on the discussion by media professionals and political leaders. For instance, Donald Trump made the term fake news popularduring his 2016 campaign to try and discredit his opponents and media outlets (Singh et al., 2022). His attempt to discredit fellow politicians resulted in questioning the credibility of news in the public domain. The embracing of fake news by the media led to Cameron winning an election for the second time (Richards, 2016). The winning was due to the claims that the Labor crash resulted from excessive borrowing. Since then, post-truth and fake news have been used to refer to democratic disruption.
The term fake news should not be used since it brings a notion that the media is engaged in fake stories, thus ruining the credibility of such an open media house. With the widespreadspread of fake news, it becomes a problem to know what is true and false anymore. Fake news creates a particular belief in society; even when there is hard evidence, it cannot replace this existing belief in the mind of people. It is used to attract attention in today’s world. There is an urgent need to combat fake news to avoid creating a world of misinformation. The spread of fake news has resulted in a formation of a society that is vulnerable and has lost faith in the truth. It is seen that fake news was the method used to make people not trust the media outlets or intellectually insult or belittle someone. There is a concern in rising anxiety about the importance of truth in public. The post-truth discourse shows there is a need to love truth rather than being concerned with its absence or presence. The discourse is further concerned with the need to understand the media’s downfall.
Discourse
Discourse is the discussion of something by either writing or speech. It is all about what can be spoken or what is said or thought and the authority they have to do so. The formation of discourse is interlinked with power because the language used in the social world is a result of sources of power. Discourse is a result of the power possessed, and it is affected by it. Its connection with power might show that some marginalized people might be oppressed in society. Discourse is an instrument of power, but that does not mean it’s a tool of domination (Singh et al., 2022). Therefore, this means that discourse is a socially constructed phenomenon. This is because its creation is a result of those who have power and with power comes communication means. Since discourse is used in society, it is governed by the rules and values within a social setting. Moreover, discourse plays a role in influencing the change and reforms in society. It helps in conflict resolution by changing people’s perspectives on how the world is shaped. Discourse can be true if society verifies and accepts it. Power is a result of discourse, and discourse is in turn guided by the power possessed.
Truth and Power
Truth and power have a great deal of connection to our society. Truth is something that does not appear suddenly but has to be worked for in a societal setting. According to Foucault, the regime of truth depends on the society depending on the type of discourse it regards as true (Bhattarai, 2020). He further suggests that there would be no power without truth and that it is a a result of power.
Photography and Surveillance
Photography is considered a mode of surveillance, for it holds a specific power in the verification of things. Photography has grown significantly in the law enforcement field, since it is used in forensics to keep a record. By taking a photograph, law enforcement is able to gather all the information regarding a case; through photography, there are a lot of personal museums, most especially on social media. The image captured is used as a surveillance method because people go through the details in the background of the picture. However, as a mode of surveillance, people get hired to spy on specific targets. The pictures are taken and stored for future reference of a particular matter. Art museums in place help in preserving history in many ways.
The cultivating relationship between individuals and pictures has brought a post-truth link between media as part of photography and the public. The power of pictures in this post-truth era has visual persuasion in society. The practical value of photography has contributed to the thriving of the post-truth space between what is true and false. Post-truth in this era promotes some kind of lie; the presence of photography has created a space where lies can thrive more than truth.
References
Backstrom, J. (2019). Pre-truth life in post-truth times. Nordic Wittgenstein Review, 97-130.
Bhattarai, P. (2020). Discourse, Power and Truth: Foucauldian Perspective. International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences, 5(5), 1427-1430.
Kaur, A. (2018). Coherence and cohesion. Lisa’s Study Guide. Web.
Moltmann, F. (2021). Truth predicates, truth bearers, and their variants. Synthese, 198(2), 689-716.
Raatikainen, P. (2021). Truth and theories of truth. The Cambridge Handbook of the Philosophy of Language. Cambridge University Press. pp. 217–232.
Singh, M., Bhutia, U., & Gogoi, D. M. (2022). Beyond the discourse of post-truth: Some reflections on the idea of fake news based on corpus linguistics (an educational analysis). Revista on line de Política e Gestão Educacional, e022032-e022032. Web.
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