Dictionary Definition
fact
Noun
1 a piece of information about circumstances that
exist or events that have occurred; "first you must collect all the
facts of the case"
2 a statement or assertion of verified
information about something that is the case or has happened; "he
supported his argument with an impressive array of facts"
3 an event known to have happened or something
known to have existed; "your fears have no basis in fact"; "how
much of the story is fact and how much fiction is hard to
tell"
4 a concept whose truth can be proved;
"scientific hypotheses are not facts"
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
- /fækt/
- /f
Extensive Definition
Generally, a fact is defined
as something that is true, something that actually exists, or
something that can be verified according to an established standard
of evaluation. There is a range of other uses, depending on the
context. For example, fact may be argued under authority of a specific pedagogy, such as scientific
facts or historical facts. Rhetorical
assertion of fact is often forwarded without an implied or express
basis of authority.
Etymology and usage
The word fact derives from the
Latin Factum,
and was first used in English with the same meaning: "a thing done
or performed", a use that is now obsolete.
The common usage of,
"something that has really occurred or is the case", dates from the
middle of the sixteenth century. Fact is also synonymous with truth
or reality, as distinguishable from conclusions or opinions. This
use is found for instance in the phrase Matter of fact, and in
"... not history, nor fact, but imagination."
Fact also indicates a matter
under discussion deemed to be true or correct, such as to emphasize
a point or prove a disputed issue; (e.g., "... the fact of
the matter is ...").
Alternatively, "fact" may also
indicate an allegation or stipulation of something that may or may
not be a "true fact", (e.g., "the author's facts are not
trustworthy"). This alternate usage, although contested by some,
has a long history in standard English.
Fact may also indicate
findings derived through a process of evaluation, including review
of testimony, direct observation, or otherwise; as distinguishable
from matters of inference or speculation. This use is reflected in
the terms "fact-find" and "fact-finder" (e.g., "set up a
fact-finding commission").
Fact in philosophy
In philosophy, the concept fact
is considered in epistemology and ontology. Questions of objectivity
and truth are closely
associated with questions of fact. A "fact" can be defined as
something which is the case, that is, the state of
affairs reported by a true proposition.
Facts may be understood as
that which makes a true sentence true. For example, the statement
"Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system" is made true by
the fact that Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system.
Facts may also be understood as those things to which a true
sentence refers. The statement "Jupiter is the largest planet in
the solar system" is about the fact that Jupiter is the largest
planet in the solar system.
Correspondence and the slingshot argument
Some versions of the
correspondence theory of truth hold that what makes a sentence
true is that it corresponds to a fact. This theory presupposes the
existence of an objective
world.
The Slingshot
argument claims to show that all true statements stand for the
same thing - the truth value true. If this argument holds, and
facts are taken to be what true statements stand for, then we reach
the counter-intuitive conclusion that there is only one fact - "the
truth".
Compound facts
Any non-trivial true statement
about reality is necessarily an abstraction composed of a
complex of objects
and properties
or relations.
For example, the fact described by the true statement "Paris is the capital city
of France"
implies that there is such a place as Paris, that there is such a
place as France, that there are such things as capital cities, as
well as that France has a government, that the government of France
has the power to define its capital city, and that the French
government has chosen Paris to be the capital, that there is such a
thing as a "place" or a "government", etc.. The verifiable accuracy
of all of these assertions, if facts themselves, may coincide to
create the fact that Paris is the capital of France.
Difficulties arise, however,
in attempting to identify the constituent parts of negative, modal,
disjunctive, or
moral
facts.
The fact-value distinction
Moral philosophers
since
David Hume have debated whether values are objective,
and thus factual. In
A Treatise of Human Nature Hume pointed out that there is no
obvious way for a series of statements about what ought to be the
case to be derived from a series of statements of what is the case.
Those who insist that there is a logical gulf between facts
and values, such that it is fallacious to attempt to derive
values from facts, include G. E.
Moore, who called attempting to do so the Naturalistic
fallacy.
The factual-counterfactual distinction
Factuality — what
has occurred — can also be contrasted with
counterfactuality — what might have occurred, but did
not. A counterfactual
conditional or subjunctive
conditional is a conditional
(or "if-then") statement indicating what would be the case if
events had been other than they actually are. For example, "If
Alexander had lived, his empire would have been greater than Rome".
This is to be contrasted with an indicative
conditional, which indicates what is (in fact) the case if its
antecedent is (in fact) true — for example, "if you drink
this, it will make you well".
Such sentences are important
to Modal
logic, especially since the development of Possible
world semantics.
Fact in science
Just as in philosophy, the scientific concept of fact is central to fundamental questions regarding the nature, methods, scope and validity of scientific reasoning.In the most basic sense, a
scientific fact is an objective
and verifiable
observation; in
contrast with a hypothesis or theory, which is intended to
explain or interpret facts.
Various scholars have offered
significant refinements to this basic formulation, some of which
are detailed below. Also, rigorous scientific use of the term
"fact" is careful to distinguish: 1) states of affairs in the
external world; from 2) assertions of fact that may be considered
relevant in scientific analysis. The term is used in both senses in
the philosophy of science.
Scholarly inquiry regarding scientific fact
Scholars and clinical researchers in both the social and natural sciences have forwarded numerous questions and theories in clarifying the fundamental nature of scientific fact. Some pertinent issues raised by this inquiry include:- the process by which "established fact" becomes recognized and accepted as such;
- whether and to what extent "fact" and "theoretic explanation" can be considered truly independent and separable from one another;
- to what extent are "facts" influenced by the mere act of observation; and
- to what extent are factual conclusions influenced by history and consensus, rather than a strictly systematic methodology.
Consistent with the theory of
confirmation
holism, some scholars assert "fact" to be necessarily
"theory-laden" to some degree. Thomas Kuhn
and others pointed out that knowing what facts to measure, and how
to measure them, requires the use of some other theory (e.g., age
of fossils is based on
radiocarbon
dating which is justified by reasoning that radioactive decay
follows a Poisson
process rather than a Bernoulli
process). Similarly, Percy
Williams Bridgman is credited with the methodological position
known as operationalism,
which asserts that all observations are not only influenced, but
necessarily defined by the means and assumptions used to measure
them.
Fact and the scientific method
Apart from the fundamental inquiry in to the nature of scientific fact, there remain the practical and social considerations of how fact is investigated, established, and substantiated through the proper application of the scientific method. Scientific facts are generally believed to be independent from the observer in that no matter which scientist observes a phenomenon, all will reach the same necessary conclusion. In addition to these considerations, there are the social and institutional measures, such as peer review and accreditation, that are intended to promote factual accuracy (among other interests) in scientific study.Fact does not always mean the
same thing as truth. Fact is a generally agreed-upon and seemingly
obvious observation. It is a fact that things stick to the earth,
without regard to why that happens. It was once a fact that the
planets changed direction from time to time, and that the sun,
planets and stars circled the earth once daily. This seemed
obvious, and was generally agreed to be the case.
In time, the fact was changed,
and it was then said that the earth circles the sun, and the
planets only appear to change direction as they are passed by the
earth in their orbits, or vice versa.
Misunderstanding of this
difference sometimes leads to fallacy in rhetoric, in which persons
will say that they have fact, while others have only theory. Such
statements indicate confusion as to the meanings of both words,
suggesting they believe that fact means "truth," and theory means
"speculation."
Fact in History
see HistoriographyA common rhetorical Cliche states,
"History is written by the winners." This phrase suggests but does
not examine the use of facts in the writing of
history.
E. H. Carr
in his 1961 volume, What is History?, argues that the inherent
biases from the gathering of facts makes the objective truth of any
historical perspective idealistic and impossible.
Facts are, "like fish in the Ocean," that we may only happen to
catch a few, only an indication of what is below the surface. Even
a dragnet cannot tell us for certain what it would be like to live
below the Ocean's surface. Even if we do not discard any facts (or
fish) presented, we will always miss the majority; the site of our
fishing, the methods undertaken, the weather and even luck play a
vital role in what we will catch. Additionally, the composition of
history is inevitably made up by the compilation of many different
bias of fact finding - all compounded over time. He concludes that
for a historian to attempt a more objective method, one must accept
that history can only aspire to a conversation of the present with
the past - and, that one's methods of fact gathering should be
openly examined. As with science, historical truth and facts will
therefore change over time and reflect only the present consensus
(if that).
Others have argued that an
approach to facts such as Carr's is relativism and they lament
the loss of a transcendent or fixed moral
framework. However, his views together with the popular rise of
historiographical narratives and meta-narratives may comprise a
consensual view.
Fact in law
In most common law jurisdictions, the general concept and analysis of fact reflects fundamental principles of Jurisprudence, and is supported by several well-established standards. Matters of fact have various formal definitions under common law jurisdictions.These include:
- an element required in legal pleadings to demonstrate a cause of action;
- the determinations of the finder of fact after evaluating admissible evidence produced in a trial or hearing;
- a potential ground of reversible error forwarded on appeal in an appellate court; and
- any of various matters subject to investigation by official authority to establish whether a crime has been perpetrated, and to establish culpability.
Legal pleadings
A party to a civil suit generally must clearly state all relevant allegations of fact upon which a claim is based. The requisite level of precision and particularity of these allegations varies depending on the rules of civil procedure as well as the jurisdiction. Parties who face uncertainties regarding the facts and circumstances attendant to their side in a dispute may sometimes invoke alternative pleading. In this situation, a party may plead separate facts that (when considered together) may be contradictory or mutually exclusive. This (seemingly) logically-inconsistent presentation of facts may be necessary as a safeguard against contingencies (such as res judicata) that would otherwise preclude presenting a claim or defense that depends on a particular interpretation of the underlying facts.Notes and references
External links
fact in Bulgarian:
Факт
fact in Czech:
Fakt
fact in German:
Faktum
fact in Estonian:
Fakt
fact in Spanish:
Faktum
fact in Esperanto:
Fakto
fact in Korean:
사실
fact in Indonesian:
Fakta
fact in Icelandic:
Staðreynd
fact in Italian:
Fatto
fact in Hebrew:
עובדה
fact in Lithuanian:
Faktas
fact in Hungarian:
Tény
fact in Macedonian:
Факт
fact in Dutch:
Feit
fact in Japanese:
事実
fact in Norwegian:
Faktum
fact in Polish:
Fakt
fact in Russian:
Факт
fact in Sicilian:
Fattu
fact in Simple English:
Fact
fact in Slovak:
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fact in Finnish:
Tosiasia
fact in Swedish:
Faktum
fact in Yiddish:
פאקט
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
absolute fact, accepted fact,
accomplishment,
act, actual fact, actuality, actually, admitted fact,
adventure, article, aspect, authenticity, axiom, bald fact, bare fact, basis
for belief, body of evidence, brutal fact, case, certainty, chain of evidence,
circumstance,
clue, cold fact, conceded
fact, count, data, datum, deed, demonstrable fact, detail, details, documentation, element, empirical fact,
episode, established
fact, eternal verities, event, evidence, exhibit, experience, facet, fact of experience,
factor, factors, facts, factually, fait accompli,
genuineness, given
fact, good sooth, grounds, grounds for belief,
hap, happening, happenstance, hard fact,
historical truth, historicity, in fact, in
reality, in truth, incident, incidental, indeed, indication, indisputable
fact, inescapable fact, information, instance, item, item of evidence, items, low-down, manifestation, mark, material grounds, matter, matter of fact, minor
detail, minutia,
minutiae, muniments, mute witness, naked
fact, not guesswork, not opinion, observable, occasion, occurrence, particular, particulars, phenomenon, piece of
evidence, plain, point, points, positive fact, postulate, premises, proof, provable fact, reality, really, reason to believe,
regard, relevant fact,
respect, salient fact,
self-evident fact, sign,
significant fact, simple fact, sober fact, sooth, stubborn fact, symptom, the case, the
nitty-gritty, the score, the true, thing, to be sure, token, trueness, truly, truth, truthfully, truthfulness, turn of
events, ultimate truth, undeniable fact, unerroneousness,
unfallaciousness,
unfalseness,
veracity, verity, very truth, well-known
fact