“What is truth?” This simple yet profound question embodies the perennial inquiry of the human race.
Throughout history, many have made great attempts, if not strides, in the inquisition concerning truth.
However, there is a preliminary question that must be asked before answering, or even asking, “What is truth?”
Moreover, there must also be a subsequent question to the question “What is truth?” to complete the inquiry of truth.
Namely, these questions are as follows:
“Is truth what?”
“Truth, what is?”
In asking “What is truth?” it is presumed that truth is something to be mentally apprehended, such as a profound concept, a factual statement about the world, a particular way of thinking, or a logical conclusion of a deliberation.
This conforms to the approach taken by the different major theories of truth. Though we can delve into them at this point, they will only render a minimal contribution to our inquiry. To summarize succinctly, they all boil down to this: truth is a belief that is true according to a particular criterion. And that criterion can be its correspondence to a fact, its coherence within a logical system, its practical applicability, or some other.
In short, truth is considered to be an abstract entity, a “what.”
Then, it is only prudent to ask “Is truth what?” The assessment of the theories of truth, as briefly explicated above, brings into light the general presupposition concerning the nature and identity of truth, just as it is implicit in the question “What is truth?” Why is it that truth is assumed to be a what? Why could it not be a how, when, where, why, or who?
Of course, in asking a what question, one can argue, it is an attempt at inquiring in the broadest scope possible. In other words, “What is truth?” can be understood to mean, “What even is truth—is it a what, a how, a when…?” If that is the case, then it is surely acceptable. However, as it is evident according to the major theories of truth in the field of philosophy, at the least, the question “What is truth?” have derailed many from that general inquiry.
Hence, it is desirable, if not necessary, to rephrase the question “What is truth?” in this way: “What is the nature of truth?” This is the intended meaning of the question “Is truth what?” Let us answer it together.