What are the criteria of truth in philosophy?

The criteria of truth are the approaches by which knowledge coinciding with its subject can be distinguished from error. Philosophers since ancient times have sought to develop a theory of knowledge that will differ in absolute truthfulness, will not cause contradictions and will not lead to a false inference in the process of analyzing the object under study. Even the ancient scientists Parmenides, Plato, Rene Descartes, and later the medieval theologian Augustine developed the doctrine of the innate nature of true judgments and concepts. Speaking of knowledge, they looked for signs to determine objectivity and accuracy in the analysis of the properties, qualities and essence of the subjects studied. Therefore, the criteria of truth are the yardstick by which one can verify the objective truth of knowledge.

The role of practice

Ancient scientists suggested verifying the truthfulness of research in practice, since such an approach can be considered in isolation from subjective thinking and natural causes that are not relevant to the object under study. Such criteria of truth, as knowledge through experience, confirmed that a person actively and purposefully influences the objective reality, studying it in passing. In the process of practice, a person or group creates a culture or a "second nature" using such forms of knowledge as scientific experiment and material production, technical and social activities.

Own experience is for man a source of knowledge and its driving force, because thanks to this criterion it is possible not only to determine the problem, but also to discover new sides and properties of the studied object or phenomenon. However, knowledge testing in practice is not a one-time act, but becomes a controversial and lengthy process. Therefore, for revealing the truth, it is required to apply other criteria of truth, which will supplement the truthfulness of the information obtained in the process of cognition.

External criteria

In addition to the practice, which in the writings of philosophers of the XIX century was called "dialectical materialism", to identify the truth in the knowledge acquired, scientists suggested using other approaches. These are "external" criteria of truth, including self-consistency and utility, but such concepts are treated ambiguously. Thus, generally accepted opinion can not be considered truthful, as it often develops under the influence of prejudices, and does not reflect the objective reality to the full. As a rule, at first only one person or a limited circle of persons owns the truth, and only afterwards it becomes the property of the majority.

Self-consistency is also not a decisive criterion, since if other scientific discoveries are added to the generally accepted knowledge system that do not conflict with generally accepted attitudes, this does not confirm the truth of the new judgments. However, this approach is characterized by a rational grain, because the world is viewed as a single whole, and knowledge of a particular phenomenon or object must be consistent with the already established scientific base. Therefore, in the end, you can discover the truth, reveal its systemic character and designate internal consistency with respect to the generally accepted knowledge.

Opinions of philosophers

When determining the veracity in the judgments and assessments of the analyzed object, different schools applied their approaches. Therefore, the criteria of truth in philosophy are multifaceted and come into conflict with each other. For example, Descartes and Leibniz considered the original knowledge to be obvious and claimed that they can be learned with the help of intellectual intuition. Kant used only a formal-logical criterion, according to which cognition must be coordinated with the universal laws of reason and reason.