THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH

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THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH

• SUSAN HAACK
• ltshaack_at_law.miami.edugt

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Much truth is spoken, that more may be
concealed Mr. Justice Darling
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two uses of truth

• as an abstract noun, referring to the concept of
  truth, trueness (or the meaning of true and
  its synonyms in other languages)
• as a concrete noun, referring to beliefs,
  propositions, statements, theories, etc., that
  are true

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in the second, concrete use

• the word takes the indefinite article, a truth
• the plural form, truths

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for example
it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a
single man in possession of a good fortune must
be in want of a wife. Jane Austen, Pride and
Prejudice
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We hold these truths to be self-evident, that
all men are created equal . American
Declaration of independence
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1. Trouble with Truth Truths

• we speak of true propositions, beliefs, etc., but
  also of
• true friends, true believers ( faithful)
• true likenesses (as of passport photo)

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we also say things like

• the frog is not a true reptile ( not really a
  reptile)
• these plants breed true ( the offspring are
  just like the parents)
• truing the wheels on a bicycle ( straightening
  them)

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no doubt related to the locution
out of true ( askew, crooked), as with a
picture hung at an angle
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a famous movie is called
True Grit ( real determination) from the
metaphor/idiom gritting your teeth
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truth cant be identified

• with acceptance-as-true
• nor with belief, not even warranted belief
• nor with agreement
• nor with sincerity

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the belief that Smith is either a liar or a fool
is true if Smith is either a liar or a fool and
not otherwise Frank Ramsey
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Ramseys account

• though often called a redundancy theory
• does NOT say it is true that is redundant
• it is not redundant e.g., in Plato said some
  true things and some false things

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it might be better called
the laconicist theory since laconic in
English means terse, short
derives from the Greek word Laconia, the name
for the ancient city-state of Sparta
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it is not a complete theory

• it requires an account of propositional
  quantifiers, which must not itself rely on the
  concept of truth
• it leaves open large questions about
  representation (what makes this the proposition
  that p) reality

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but it suffices to explain

• what I mean by saying that there are many truths,
  but only one truth(-concept)
• that some truths are about things of our
  making, but truth is independent of us, objective

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• that some truths make sense only relative to
  culture, community, legal system, etc.
• but truth is not relative

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for example

• it was once true, but since 1832 is no longer
  true, that in English law the penalty for
  stealing a sheep was death
• this is the origin of the expression might as
  well be hung for a sheep as a lamb

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i.e.
if youre going to take a big risk, better it be
for the chance of a big reward than a small one!
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or, another example

• it was true until January 2005, but is no longer
  true
• that in Michigan law the standard of
  admissibility of novel scientific testimony was
  general acceptance in the field to which it
  belongs

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again

• while some truths are vague, truth is not a
  matter of degree
• while some truths are partial, truth does not
  decompose into parts

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there are many kinds of vagueness

• of predicates (tall, bald, intelligent)
• of nouns (heap, crowd)
• of adverbs (fairly, normally)
• of quantifiers (a few, many, several)

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• there is non-gradational vagueness, eg., of
  buzzwords like funky
• the vagueness of philosophical terms that have
  lost meaning through multiple ambiguity
  (realism, relativism, reliabilism)

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there are two meanings of partially true

• part of p is true as in she was poor but
  she was honest if she was poor, but not honest,
  or honest but not poor
• p is part of the truth in this sense every
  proposition is only partially true

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so, what are we asking

• when we require a witness to tell the truth, the
  whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
• not that he tell the whole truth about
  everything
• but that he tell the truth, as he believes it to
  be, without relevant omissions

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that some propositions are only partly true

• doesnt mean truth decomposes into parts
• a partial truth in the 1st sense (true in part)
  is, strictly, just plain false
• a partial truth in the 2nd sense (part of the
  truth) is, strictly, just plain true

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2. Problems with Partial Truth, Some Vagaries
of Vagueness

• this throws light on the question of truth in
  history
• any account of a past event is bound to be
  incomplete, convey only part of the truth about
  what really happened

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• may mislead because of its incompleteness, but
• that doesnt mean that no historical account can
  be true (so far as it goes)

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why is incomplete evidence misleading?
If I knew what was important to know and what
wasnt, Id have this thing pretty much solved
Spenser, Robert B. Parkers laconic private
detective
Robert B. Parker
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of course
There are the knowns, the unknowns, and the
unknown unknowns Donald Rumsfeld, former U.S.
Secretary of Defense
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a novelist makes the point precisely
The truth is not a line from here to there,
and not ever-widening circles like the rings on a
sawn log, but rather trails of overlapping
liquids that poured forth but then assumed a
shape and life of their own, that circled around
in spirals and fluctuations to touch and color
all truths that came out after that. Jeffrey
Lent
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this is exactly what happens in the novel, as
more truths come out
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now we see

• a connection between out of true and slanted
• why partial means both incomplete and
  biased
• why colorable has two almost opposite meanings

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vagueness may be

• inadvertent, or deliberate
• if deliberate
• benign, or
• intended to evade or mislead

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similarly

• partial truth may be inadvertent or deliberate
• if deliberate
• benign (e.g., tactful)
• or intended to deceive

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It is not in human nature to deceive others, for
any long time, without, in a measure, deceiving
ourselves Cardinal Newman
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It is not in human nature to fudge issues to
others, for any long time, without, in a measure,
fudging them in ones own mind too SH
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as I see it

• deliberately (or quasi-deliberately) withholding
  part of the truth, with benign intent
• is analogous to a white lie
• i.e., a small lie told to avoid hurting someones
  feelings

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but

• deliberately or quasi-deliberately withholding
  part of the truth with intent to deceive
• is just as bad as a plain old black lie

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however

• telling only part of the truth is psychologically
  easier than flat-out lying
• because you can tell yourself you arent lying
• after all, everything you say is true!

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one example of many

• drug companies have no obligation to publish
  unfavorable studies
• in fact often publish only the good news
• as a result of which doctors have prescribed a
  drug when it is inappropriate or even dangerous

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a commentator observes
Too often, chief executives sugarcoat the truth.
Thats more dangerous than ever Many times
its the thing not said that gets a CEO in
trouble
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sadly

• deliberate and quasi-deliberate deception by
  partial truth seems ubiquitous much commoner
  than the Lie Direct
• in business, in advertising, in politics
• even, Im afraid, in universities

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thank you for your invitation, and for your
attention!