is there a difference between a "fact" and a "truth"? i realize that some people use the terms interchangeably, but i wondered if there was a logically necessary distinction. i reasoned that the difference between them is that "facts" are always true. truths are temporary. For example, "george w. bush is president of the united states" is true only within the length of his term (let's say 4 years).
to make the same statement 8 years from now the truth value will be false. but, "george w. bush was elected president of the united states in 2001" will forever be true. is my distinction between "facts" and "truth" reasonable or faulty?

      I don't believe that old monkeyface was elected in 2001. He was appointed the presidency by the Supreme Court Judges.  So, I'd have to say that your statement concerning old Camel Bum Face being elected is not true.

      Other than that one terrible mistake in fact and truth, I would have to say I agree that facts are always true. Truths can be temporary because a fact may come along that will change what was considered to be the truth.

Have a nice day.   

Well, science has had *facts*, throughout history, that are not always true, but according to the 'best evidence' which has been shown to be weak sometimes. I assume you mean 'always true' means they are so until the 'end of time'.

not

Your sentence 'GWB is President of the US' is only true during his term. But the fact that GWB is the president of the US is only a fact during his term. In order to make both 'always true' or 'always a fact' will involve incorporating temporal notions: It's always true that 'GWB was elected in 2001', but similarly, it's always a fact that GWB was elected in 2001.  More technically, Tarski's disquotation schema which has it that:   

DS: 'P' is true if and only if P
   

For example 'snow is white' is true if and only if snow is white. Hence, there is a direct link between facts and truths. Whenever you have a truth you have a fact and vice versa. If you still want to make the case there is a difference then I guess an intuitive difference might be that the truth predicate only
applies to sentence, whereas facts are things 'in the world'. You could also say that facts are what make sentences true.  Facts, in that sense, would be the truth-makers for the true sentences.
   

Truth is eternal.  Knowledge is changeable.  It is disastrous to confuse them. ~Madeleine L'Engle~


Sandi

Facts must be observable and based on the premise of logic. If logic is correct, than facts are nothing but observations of the condition of something. It's provable by logic. Truth on the other hand only requires belief. We all have our own truth. Things can be truth without being a fact. Facts can exist but still not be true to those who do not believe in logic.

Evolution is one of the most well proven facts. We have fossils, we have the decay rates of carbon. We know how old things are and in which order they appeared. Yet, it's rejected my many who reject logic. They don't need to prove that all these facts are not true, it only requires their belief, their truth.

Katia, I don't know where you are getting this stuff, but you have been coming up with some great philosophical questions lately. Really makes one think.

Love always,
Elizabeth

I think that the two terms can be used interchangeably.  We often consider opinions to be truths and assumptions to be facts and in all these cases, we are dead wrong.

I tend to consider facts as things measured and truths to be models (or theories).

Cindi

There is also what is called modal logic, which distinguishes between necessary truths and contingent truths. The former would be true in all possible worlds. Facts tend to fall into the latter category.

Fact: I am a boy

Truth: I am a girl

~Kate~

Quote from: Kate on June 20, 2007, 08:25:11 PM
Fact: I am a boy

Truth: I am a girl

~Kate~

Darn it, Kate, your simple logic [beautiful in it's simplicity] nails it all and throws my previous opinion into the wind.


Love you

Rebecca

the truth does seem to change given the perspective its viewed from wheras facts can be written down and put on file.They generally have the one perspective put on them!

Quote from: Kate on June 20, 2007, 08:25:11 PM
Fact: I am a boy

Truth: I am a girl

~Kate~

This is such a great example. Fact, determined by logic and truth decided by personal belief. Excellent!!!!!

Love always,
Elizabeth