Truth Checks

Sean Coleman

2025-10-09

Truth

Welcome back!

I hope you had a great break!

Today’s Objective

Apply four types of truth checks to evaluate if a knowledge claim is true.

Truth checks

• Let’s read about ‘truth checks’.
  
• Please download from ManageBac.
  
• Read together.

Truth checks – directions

Define, in your own words, each type of truth check in the key terms document.

• Correspondence
  
• Coherence
  
• Consensus
  
• Pragmatic

Activity

• Write four knowledge claims about yourself.
  
• Three truths and a lie.
  
• Make it difficult to know which one is a lie.
  
• You will share with another student.

Activity

• Show and tell your partner your knowledge claims.
  
• Find out which claim of your partner is false by using truth checks.
  
• Explain why it is false and what truth check proves this.

Truth check reflection

• In your key terms document, record how you discovered your partner’s untrue knowledge claim.
  
• What truth check did you use to discover this?
  
• (5 mins)

Linking truth to knowledge

Justified true belief.

• According to this theory, knowledge is simply a justified belief that is true.
  https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/knowledge-analysis/
  
• Pt. 1 of this entry is concerned with justifiability, truth and belief in relation to knowledge.

Extra extra reading

• Philosopher Edmund Gettier argued in 1963 that justified true belief as a definition of knowledge was false.
  
• Many agree with him.
  
• You can read his arguments here if you are interested:
  http://fitelson.org/proseminar/gettier.pdf

Next Classes

• Tomorrow: Discuss types Knowledge Claims and complete review
• Tuesday: Quiz on terms (matching), discuss major for K&K unit

Great job!