Theories of Truth

There appear to be two sides to the coin when determining 'what is truth?'. There is an objective school and a pragmatic school for truth. The objective school represents notions that are true independent of their value to the student. In the subjective school, a notion is true if its acceptance maintains a higher living standard than its dismissal or questioning by the student. The pragmatic truth is maintained by refusal to question its origins and dismissal of possible alternatives if desirable. For example, scientific paradigm shifts may be somewhat resisted by scientists who have spent a lot of energy on a certain idea that is being undermined by a new, objective truth. This commitment on the scientists' behalf imparts a subjective, pragmatic property to them, hampering an objective investigation into their origins and possible alternatives. Therefore, considerable resistance can be expected for large paradigm shifts where there exists a correspondingly large gap between pragmatic and objective truth.

As an analogy to economics, information can be said to have positive and negative externalities, leading to inefficiencies in its allocation. To students of the objective school, the subjective school can be seen as an institution built upon logical fallacies and its placement on a more rigorous footing can be seen as desirable for its inhabitants. Quite the opposite is true. Objectively undermining subjective truths would be harmful when their owners benefit emotionally, financially or socially from them. Only when truthfulness of an answer to a certain question does not provide any pragmatic benefit, will an objective truth be readily accepted and encouraged. Where a notion is pragmatically true but objectively false (or vice versa), differences in belief have potential to fuel ardent debate. The fly in the ointment in these cases is often in the differing subscription to schools of truth rather than in any specific argument of the quarreling parties. This could explain the persistence of debates on certain matters such as religion. Where a notion is both pragmatically and objectively true, both students enjoy a high living standard with the objective student being more inquisitive on the origin of the truth.