The Correspondence Theory of Truth
Updated 2026-09-10
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
In the narrow sense, the correspondence theory holds that truth is correspondence with fact, the view held by Russell and Moore at the start of the twentieth century; in the broad sense, the label covers any view that explicitly takes truth to consist in a relation to reality, that is, a relational property involving a specific relation and a portion of reality. Its central task is to explain the correspondence relation and the nature of truthmakers without circularity.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Truthmaker demand: for each assertion, find the corresponding state of affairs; if none exists, the assertion is false. - Circularity check: test whether the alleged fact is merely a restatement of the assertion, avoiding tautology. - Fact paring: fix how facts are counted and bounded, so that vague facts cannot pass as evidence.
Anchor fast decisions
The theory treats truth as a relational property: a truth-bearer is true if and only if a corresponding truthmaker exists, a fact or state of affairs, and the two stand in the correspondence relation. The difficulty is to specify that relation non-circularly: if correspondence is explained as isomorphism, the ground of the structural match needs accounting for, and if facts are invoked, their individuation conditions need clarifying.
MINIMUM ACTION
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Source support: Explicit
- plato.stanford.eduhttps://plato.stanford.edu/entries/truth-correspondence/verified
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