Is there a difference between FACTS and TRUTH?

> Is it possible to have something be a proven fact, but NOT be Truth at
> the same time?

> Is it possible to have a Truth that is not factual or which does not
> have any factual support?

> Is it rational to hold something to be truth, even if all the facts
> point to a different answer?

I have a feeling this discussion will boil down to semantics, but here
is my two cents.

Facts are independently verifiable.
Truth has to do with belief.

For example, I give you a gun with blanks and tell you that it only
has blanks and no one will get hurt by shooting it.
You fire it, but someone still gets hurt (they were too close to the
gun, a piece of the blank fired out, whatever).

Now, it was a fact that the gun had blanks, and it was a fact that no
one should have gotten hurt. Was I telling the truth when I said that?
I believed what I was saying, so most would say that I was telling the
through, even though my statement was contradicted by facts (the fact
that someone did get hurt). I am not, all of a sudden, a liar.

Next example, I give you a loaded gun, I don't tell you it's loaded,
but I do tell you that no one will get hurt by you shooting it, and I
let you make your own conclusions. I do, know however, that it is
loaded and I do, actually, believe someone will get hurt by firing it.
You fire it, but nothing happens.

Now, the facts of the situation support my statement, but based on my
knowledge and belief, I was not telling the truth.

Facts are simply that. Facts. They do not require a person to know
about them or to believe in them to exist, though it is through
knowing them and believing them that we see they exist.

Truth is defendant on knowledge and belief. A person can tell the
truth and be wrong, or tell a lie and be right. The wrongness and
rightness of their statements, is determined by the facts of the


matter. [img][/img]

is this topic related to anything.. i dnt think we need to hve a discussion on these examples.. am going to lock this thread. if any admin finds it worth a discussion he can open it..