Fact

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A fact is something that is the case. It is the state of affairs reported by a true statement.

[edit] In philosophy

The relationship between non-trivially true statements (i.e. not tautologies) and facts is one of the provinces of epistemology.

Any non-trivial true statements about reality is necessarily an abstraction composed of a complex of objects and properties or relations. For example, the fact described by the true statement "Paris is the capital city of France" implies that:

• There truly is such a place as Paris;
• There truly is such a place as France;
• There are such things as capital cities;
• France has a government;
• The government of France is legitimate, and has the power to define its capital city;
• The French government has chosen Paris to be the capital.

The truth of all of these assertions, facts in themselves, coincide to create the fact that Paris is the capital of France. Difficulties arise, however, in attempting to identify the constituent parts of negative, modal, disjunctive, or moral facts. For example, is the statement "Indianapolis is not the capital city of France" factual because it is false that Indianapolis is the capital of France, or because the situation does not obtain that Indianapolis is the capital of France? ^[1]

[edit] In science

In science a fact is an objective and verifiable observation, in contrast with a theory, which is a explanation of or interpretation of facts. Some scholars in the philosophy of science question whether scientific facts are truly objective or are always "theory-laden" to some degree. Thomas Kuhn and others as well pointed out that knowing what facts to measure, and how to measure them, requires some presupposition about the facts themselves.^{[citation needed]} In the field of science studies, "scientific facts" are generally seen as entities which exist within complex social structures of trust, accreditation, institutions, and individual practices.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Used colloquially

Outside of science, a word 'fact' may be associated with some of the following:

• An honest observation confirmed by widely respected observers.
  • Errors are common in the interpretation of the meaning of observations.
  • Power is frequently used to force the politically correct interpretation of an observation.
• A repeatedly observed regularity.
  • One observation of any phenomenon does not necessarily make it a fact. Repeatability of an observation is required usually by using the stated procedures or operational definitions of a phenomenon.
• Something thought to be actual as opposed to invented.
• Something concrete used as a basis for further interpretation.
• Information about a particular subject.
• Something believed to be the case.

[edit] References

1. ^ "Fact", in The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, Ted Honderich, editor. (Oxford, 1995) ISBN 0-19-866132-0