1 SCIENCE AND TRUTH The question of science related to truth has always been a debatable question and this debate started hundreds of years ago. It should be noted that while science is a very powerful way of understanding the world around us it does not tell the exact truth. Therefore the primary aim of the essay is to discuss about science as well as truth. According to the theory of truth statements are true only if only when they are accurately reported to the concerned person in its actual state of affairs without any manipulation of incidents. The theory of truth is further related to reality that is truth should be evident and nit abstract(Dodd, 2016).On the other hand scientific realism states truth as something in which the reality is described accurately. The latter utilizes one of the versions of the correspondence of the theory of truth. Furthermore the coherence of truth states that the idea or a statement is true when it is ready to fit or merge with other ideas as well as statements. It differs from its competitor known as the correspondence theory of truth. The coherencetheoryoftruthdefinestruthasapropertyofpropositions.Itbelievesin consistency(Lee, 2017).On the other hand the article also focuses on conceptual relativism which is a delineated form of relativism where the ontology or the existence of something instead of ethical as well as epistemic norms is said to be relativized to the conceptual schemes, paradigms that are scientific as well as categorical frameworks(Sankey, 2018). Accordingto the above theory there are many cultures in the world and all the cultures view the world in a different way. Pragmatism on the other hand claims that beliefs that are useful or have some practical application are true. When pragmatism is studied under scientific methods then it is most commonly associated with that aspect of science that is known as instrumentalism. The pragmatic theory of truth further supports that if the proposition is true then is will be helpful to believe (Russill, 2016). It shows a connection between truth as well as epistemic practices. Instrumentalism on the other hand believes that scientific theories are tools or instruments
2 SCIENCE AND TRUTH and the theory helps an individual to predict successfully (Russill,2016). Thus, as stated by instrumentalism, scientific theories are not aimed at delivering truth about an independent reality instead it aims at having some reliability. Quantum mechanics had challenged the theory of truth during its emergence as it brought with it small atomic as well as subatomic particles. It also brought lasers along with electricity as well as atomic energy that challenged the theory of truth(Lewis, 2016).Even Bohr challenged Einstein’s realist views. Bohr was an instrumentalist who thought quantum mechanics to be a calculating tool and not just a picture or mere representation of inner secrets. Einstein’s realism concept showed that science was capable of penetrating to the hidden level of reality(Skibba, 2018).According to him Bohr’s instrumentalism had a negative effect on the knowledge of science. According to theorists Truth with capital T was not really a truth but a mistake. The small ‘t’ was more close to the truths that are perceived by humans. Therefore to conclude it is still difficult to arrive at a definite meaning of truth. Theorists have tried different ways to explain its concepts but the concept has become more complicated with time.
3 SCIENCE AND TRUTH References Dodd, J. (2016).An identity theory of truth. Springer. Lee,B.D.(2017).Thetruth-conducivenessproblemofcoherentismandasellarsian explanatory coherence theory.International Journal of Philosophical Studies,25(1), 63-79. Lewis, P. J. (2016).Quantum ontology: A guide to the metaphysics of quantum mechanics. Oxford University Press. Russill, C. (2016). Pragmatism.The International Encyclopedia of Communication Theory and Philosophy, 1-13. Sankey, H. (2018).Rationality, relativism and incommensurability. Routledge. Skibba, R. (2018). Einstein, Bohr and the war over quantum theory.Nature,555(7698).