truthfalsehood

Truthfalsehood is a neologism used in philosophy, media studies, and information theory to describe the space or spectrum between truth and falsehood. It refers to claims, statements, or propositions whose truth value is uncertain, context-dependent, or combines elements of both truth and falsity. The term aims to highlight that real-world information often does not fit neatly into true or false categories.

The concept aligns with non-binary theories of truth. In logic, approaches like fuzzy logic assign degrees of truth; paraconsistent logics and dialetheism acknowledge that some statements may be both true and false; in epistemology, truthfalsehood is a useful heuristic for analyzing partial compliance with evidence.

In practice, truthfalsehood is relevant for journalism, science communication, and AI systems, where statements may be partially accurate but incomplete, or where qualifiers (e.g., "some researchers argue") affect truth conditions. Veracity metrics, fact-checking, and evidence weigh different components.

Critics argue that it risks introducing vagueness or undermining standard notions of truth. Others treat it as a descriptive tool rather than a normative claim. Related concepts include veracity, accuracy, misinformation, disinformation, truthiness, and context-dependence.