Epistemology of Truth

Could an anti-realist accommodate our intuitions about the objectivity of truth, do you think? And why are realist accounts of truth wedded to fallibilism?

Also do you accept the argument that simply opting for an anti-realist theory of truth will not enable one to evade the sceptical argument?

This sounds a lot like a homework assignment. Why don’t you let us know what you think first? :slight_smile:

Yep.

Because they don’t know.

Yep.

There are a couple of types of anti-realists, so which one?

Then there can also be specific versions, say anti-realist in relation to mathematical ‘things’.

Anti-realism is consistent with a weak version of objectivism (what we believe now could be false ) but inconsistent with a strong version (it is always possible that our beliefs are false). An anti-realist holds that we need not concern ourselves with an idea of a truth which goes further than what we consider, after full enquiry, most likely to be the case. The anti-realist sees no meaningful distinction between truth and our best opinion, a position which is at odds with our intuitions about the objectivity of truth.

A realist, in contrast, holds that believing something to be true does not make it true. In common with fallibilists, a realist recognises the possibility that our beliefs may be false. The alliance of realism and fallibilism - unlike the anti-realist position which risks complacency - keeps us on our epistemological toes, always open to the possibility of improving our set of beliefs.

With the sceptical hypothesis you are radically deceived about the world yet your experience of the world is exactly as it would be had you not been deceived . As anti-realist your experience of the world, the truth you think you have of the world, is your best opinion after inquiry and it is exactly the same as it would had been if you were deceived through a sceptical hypothesis. So that anti-realism is no denying of the sceptical hypothesis.

Is this enough to prove that I am not simply doing this for a hw assignment - I’m merely interested in what you all think.