Korrespondenssiteoria

Korrespondenssiteoria, also known as the correspondence theory of truth, is a philosophical theory that defines truth as a relationship between a statement or belief and the way things actually are in the world. According to this theory, a statement is true if and only if it corresponds to a fact. This means that what is asserted by the statement must accurately reflect reality.

The core idea is that truth is a matter of accurate representation. For example, the statement "The cat is on the mat" is true if, and only if, there is indeed a cat situated on a mat in reality. If there is no cat or no mat, or if the cat is somewhere else, then the statement does not correspond to the facts and is therefore considered false.

This theory has a long history in philosophy, with roots in ancient Greek thought, particularly with Aristotle. It has been a dominant view of truth for centuries and is often considered the common-sense understanding of what truth means. Critics of the correspondence theory sometimes point to the difficulty in clearly defining what constitutes a "fact" or how to definitively establish a correspondence between language and reality, especially when dealing with abstract concepts or subjective experiences. Despite these challenges, the correspondence theory remains a significant and influential perspective in the philosophy of truth.