Facts for Kids

Truth means that an idea, a sentence, or a belief agrees with what actually happened or what is real. When something is true, it matches the facts. When it is not true, it is a falsehood. People talk about truth in many places: in science when checking experiments, in law when finding out what happened, in art when representing feelings, and in religion and philosophy when asking big questions about life.

Many thinkers say truth is a basic idea we notice but cannot make from simpler parts. A common way to think about truth is that it should "match" reality. But people still argue about how to decide that match and whether truth can change depending on time or place.

Deflationary thinkers notice that the word "true" often does little more than repeat a statement in a short way. Saying "2 + 2 = 4 is true" mostly means the same as saying "2 + 2 = 4." Using "true" can be handy when you want to point to many things at once, like saying "What Mia says is true" instead of repeating everything she said.

The performative idea says saying something is true can be like doing something—it shows you agree. Saying "That is true" is similar to nodding or saying "I do" at a wedding: it performs agreement out loud.

The English word "truth" comes from old forms like Old English "triewth" and Middle English "trewthe." It is built from the word "true," which comes from Old English "treowe." Long ago, these words meant being faithful or steady, the same way a loyal friend stays by your side.

In everyday life, "truth" can mean two things: it can mean loyalty or honesty (a true friend), and it can mean agreement with fact (a true statement). The idea of being steady or faithful shows up in related words in other languages, like German "treu," and even in ancient roots that sometimes link the idea to a tree as a symbol of being firm and lasting.

Skepticism is about asking how sure we can be that things are true. Some skeptics doubt big claims like what happens after life or whether every belief is right. A few say we can’t be sure about much at all; others say we should be careful and test important claims.

Long ago someone asked, "What is truth?" That question keeps coming back. Today people still discuss whether truth is always the same for everyone or can depend on viewpoint, and how we should check tricky questions.

Logic studies the rules of good thinking so we can see when a statement must be true. A logical truth is true because of its form, not because of facts about the world. For example, "If it is raining and cold, then it is raining" must be true whenever the first part happens.

In math and logic, truth can be more than just yes or no. There are systems with three or many truth-values, and fuzzy logic lets truth be a number between 0 and 1 to show degrees—like how certain you are that a glass is full. Which kind of truth helps depends on the question.

Constructivism says that sometimes what we call true is made by people working together, not just found like a rock. Different cultures and times make different ideas about what is true, because people have different experiences, stories, and needs. For example, rules, customs, or labels can change when people agree they should, and some things like social roles can be shaped this way.

Another idea is consensus theory, which says truth can be what a group agrees on. Some philosophers think truth would be what everyone would decide in a fair conversation. Other thinkers warn that if some voices are left out, agreement can still be unfair.

Correspondence theory says a belief or sentence is true when it matches the world. For example, the sentence "The cat is on the mat" is true if, in the world, the cat really sits on the mat. Ancient thinkers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle talked this way, and later philosophers used similar ideas.

Some writers, like Thomas Aquinas, explained truth as a fit between how things are and how the mind understands them. But language and meaning can make matching hard: words sometimes don't capture everything perfectly. In the 1900s, logicians such as Alfred Tarski worked on clearer rules about how words link to facts to help solve these problems.

Coherence theory says truth depends on how well a new idea fits with a whole web of other ideas. An idea is true if it joins neatly with a system where all parts support each other, like pieces of a puzzle that form a picture. This view is helpful in math and logic, where complete, consistent systems matter. But critics say it can be hard to use when checking facts about the natural world.

Pragmatic theories judge truth by what happens when we use an idea. Founders such as Peirce, William James, and John Dewey said that testing, useful results, and community inquiry help show what is true. If an idea leads to good, repeatable results and keeps surviving careful tests, we are more confident it is true. This view welcomes experiments and practical effects as part of finding truth.