Information AboutFact |
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Generally, a fact is something that is the case, something that actually exists, or something that can be verified according to an established standard of evaluation.Chamber's Dictionary, ninth edition Concise OED definition There is a range of other uses, depending on the context. People are interested in facts because of their relation to Truth . ETYMOLOGY AND USAGE The word ''fact'' derives from the Latin ''Factum'', and was first used in English with the same meaning: "a thing done or performed", a use that is now obsolete."Fact". OED_2d_Ed_1989, (but note the conventional uses: ''after the fact'' and ''before the fact''). The common usage, "something that has really occurred or is the case", dates from the middle of the Sixteenth Century ."Fact" (1a). OED_2d_Ed_1989 Joye ''Exp. Dan.'' xi. Z vij b, ''Let emprours and kinges know this godly kynges fact. 1545'' Fact is also synonymous with ''truth'' or ''reality'', as distinguishable from conclusions or opinions. This use is found for instance in the phrase ''Matter of fact'',"Fact" (4a) OED_2d_Ed_1989 and in "... not history, nor fact, but imagination." Fact also indicates a ''matter under discussion'' deemed to be true or correct, such as to emphasize a point or prove a disputed issue; (e.g., "... the ''fact'' of the matter is ...")."Fact" (6c). OED_2d_Ed_1989(See also "Matter" (2,6). Compact_OED) Alternatively, "fact" may also indicate an ''allegation or stipulation'' of something that may or may not be a "true fact","Fact" (5). OED_2d_Ed_1989 (e.g., "the author's facts are not trustworthy"). This alternate usage, although contested by some, has a long history in standard English.According to the ''American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'', "Fact has a long history of usage in the sense 'allegation'" AHD_4th_Ed. The OED dates this use to 1729. Fact may also indicate findings derived through a ''process of evaluation'', including review of testimony, direct observation, or otherwise; as distinguishable from matters of inference or speculation."Fact" (6a). OED_2d_Ed_1989 This use is reflected in the terms "fact-find" and "fact-finder" (e.g., "set up a fact-finding commission")."Fact" (8). OED_2d_Ed_1989 FACT IN PHILOSOPHY In Philosophy , the concept ''fact'' is considered in Epistemology and Ontology . Questions of Objectivity and Truth are closely associated with questions of fact. A "fact" can be defined as something which is the case, that is, the State Of Affairs reported by a True Proposition ."A fact is, traditionally, the worldly correlate of a true proposition, a state of affairs whose obtaining makes that proposition true". -- ''Fact'' in The Oxford Companion to Philosophy"A fact, it might be said, is a state of affairs that is the case or obtains" -- Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy. ''States of Affairs'' Correspondence and the slingshot argument This theory presupposes the existence of an Objective world. The Slingshot Argument claims to show that all true statements stand for the same thing - the truth value ''true''. If this argument holds, and facts are taken to be what true statements stand for, then we reach the counter-intuitive conclusion that there is only one fact - "the truth". Compound facts Any non-trivial true statement about reality is necessarily an Abstraction composed of a complex of Objects and Properties or Relations ."Facts possess internal structure, being complexes of objects and properties or relations" Oxford Companion to Philosophy. For example, the fact described by the true statement " Paris is the Capital City of France " implies that there is such a place as Paris, that there is such a place as France, that there are such things as capital cities, as well as that France has a government, that the government of France has the power to define its capital city, and that the French government has chosen Paris to be the capital, that there is such a thing as a "place" or a "government", etc.. The verifiable accuracy of all of these assertions, if facts themselves, may coincide to create the fact that Paris is the capital of France. Difficulties arise, however, in attempting to identify the constituent parts of Negative , Modal , Disjunctive , or Moral facts."Fact", in ''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Ted Honderich, editor. (Oxford, 1995) ISBN 0-19-866132-0 The fact-value distinction See Also: fact-value distinction Moral Philosophers since David Hume have debated whether values are Objective , and thus factual. In '' A Treatise Of Human Nature '' Hume pointed out that there is no obvious way for a series of statements about what ''ought'' to be the case to be derived from a series of statements of what ''is'' the case. Those who insist that there is a logical gulf between Facts And Values , such that it is fallacious to attempt to derive values from facts, include G. E. Moore , who called attempting to do so the Naturalistic Fallacy . The factual-counterfactual distinction See Also: counterfactual conditional Factuality — what has occurred — can also be contrasted with counterfactuality — what ''might have'' occurred, but did not. A Counterfactual Conditional or Subjunctive conditional is a Conditional (or "if-then") Statement indicating what ''would be'' the case if events had been other than they actually are. For example, "If Alexander had lived, his empire would have been greater than Rome". This is to be contrasted with an Indicative Conditional , which indicates what ''is'' (in fact) the case if its antecedent ''is'' (in fact) true — for example, "if you drink this, it will make you well". Such sentences are important to Modal Logic , especially since the development of Possible World semantics. FACT IN SCIENCE Just as in philosophy, the Scientific concept of fact is central to fundamental questions regarding the nature, methods, scope and validitity of Scientific Reasoning . Scholarly inquiry regarding scientific fact Scholars and clinical researchers in both the Social and Natural Sciences have forwarded numerous questions and theories in clarifying the fundamental nature of scientific fact.(Gower 1996) Some pertinent issues raised by this inquiry include:
Consistent with the theory of Confirmation Holism , some scholars assert "fact" to be necessarily "theory-laden" to some degree. Thomas Kuhn and others pointed out that knowing what facts to measure, and how to measure them, requires the use of some other theory (e.g., age of Fossils is based on Radiocarbon Dating which is justified by reasoning that radioactive decay follows a Poisson Process rather than a Bernoulli Process ). Similarly, Percy Williams Bridgman is credited with the methodological position known as Operationalism , which asserts that all observations are not only influenced, but necessarily ''defined'' by the means and assumptions used to measure them. Fact and the scientific method Apart from the fundamental inquiry in to the nature of scientific fact, there remain the practical and social considerations of how fact is investigated, established, and substantiated through the proper application of the scientific method.Ravetz p. 181 et. seq. (Chapter Six: "Facts and their evolution") Scientific facts are generally believed to be independent from the observer in that no matter which scientist observes a phenomenon, all will reach the same necessary conclusion.Cassell, Eric J. The Nature of Suffering and the Goals of Medicine '' Oxford University Press ''. Retrieved 16 May 2007 . In addition to these considerations, there are the social and institutional measures, such as Peer Review and Accreditation , that are intended to promote ''factual accuracy'' (among other interests) in scientific study.(Ravetz 1996) FACT IN LAW These include:
Legal pleadings A party to a ) that would otherwise preclude presenting a claim or defense that depends on a particular interpretation of the underlying facts.(McDonald 1952) SEE ALSO NOTES AND REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS |
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