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October 2009 
What is the difference between truth and fact?
Posted on Sep 2nd, 2008
by 
rugged_gurl1
rugged_gurl1
This is in Response to the Questions and Reflections for September 02, 2008:
Basic definitions for these two words and how they are being use: Truth: Conformity to fact or actuality. A statement proven to be or accepted as true. Sincerity; integrity. Fidelity to an original or standard. Reality; actuality. often Truth That which is considered to be the supreme reality and to have the ultimate meaning and value of existence. Fact: Knowledge or information based on real occurrences: an account based on fact; a blur of fact and fancy. Something demonstrated to exist or known to have existed: Genetic engineering is now a fact. That Chaucer was a real person is an undisputed fact. A real occurrence; an event: had to prove the facts of the case. Something believed to be true or real: a document laced with mistaken facts. A thing that has been done, especially a crime: an accessory before the fact. Law. The aspect of a case at law comprising events determined by evidence: The jury made a finding of fact. These two words- truth and fact are almost too hard to tell apart at first. As I look further into these two words in other languages such as Chinese and Japanese, they are also define in similar terms that these words are interchangeable? That you will need to be your own judge as you read the definition above. Truth, a concept in philosophy that treats both the meaning of the word true and the criteria by which we judge the truth or falsity in spoken and written statements. Philosophers have attempted to answer the question “What is truth?” for thousands of years. The four main theories they have proposed to answer this question are the correspondence, pragmatic, coherence, and deflationary theories of truth. In actual reality, politics is a prime example of truth and facts. There are the facts that are generated on YouTube and various main stream media about US Presidential Elections. Are they the truth? Or are they the absolute truth? Or are they just generating the facts? To spend the time deciding what is/are true or facts or not could be dependent on the situation or the realities or its merits or pitfalls. "The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it and ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is." - Winston Churchill To state the facts frankly is not to despair the future nor indict the past. The prudent heir takes careful inventory of his legacies and gives a faithful accounting to those whom he owes an obligation of trust. John F. Kennedy "fact." and "truth". The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Answers.com 03 Sep. 2008. http://www.answers.com/topic/fact "truth." Quotations. Quotations Book, 2005. Answers.com 03 Sep. 2008. http://www.answers.com/topic/truth
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“The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it and ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.” - Winston Churchill
Thank you, PK. I loved that quote. You really put a huge effort into answering this one. I never managed to answer this question, because it brought up such a huge memory for me. It brought up being truthful in the face of ignorance and malice. The sanskrit term for truthful is satya, and of course, we should all practice satya always, for our own freedom.
One of the hardest lessons I had to learn is when someone asks you a question, you don't have to answer it. If you answer, you must be truthful, but you have the choice to answer. 'Tis better to reply to their question with, “why do you want to know?” In this way, you have more knowledge about the reasoning for their question, and you can make your decision to answer or not. If not, then you can reply, “I'd rather not answer that question”.
Thank you for working so hard to answer this question.
<hug>
Lisa