A group of Academic Scholars at Rydal Penrhos explored the question of truth as part of their latest session.
School chaplain the Reverend Nick Sissons led the pupils through the seminar on Wednesday, February 28, which highlight the importance of deciphering the ‘Fake News’ from the actual facts surrounding a particular story or event.
This is the latest in a series of exciting sessions devised by staff, which have been implemented with a view to enhancing the learning opportunities of those that have been awarded Academic Scholarships.
Mr Sissons explains more: “We explored this question philosophically - first by asking what we mean we say something is true and making the point that the language we use is not always easily understood so we have to be precise in our definitions.
“We also explored different theories about truth: was it something that had to correspond to reality or could something be true if enough people believed it to be true.
“Then we asked how we would go about showing that a statement we made was true. This depends on the kind of statements we make. If we say 'Today it is snowing' this is something we can prove to most people's satisfaction.
“But what if I say 'It ought not to snow in March.' That is a statement that is very hard to prove to be true because it involves values and opinions.
“Equally if I say 'God makes it snow' this is also a statement that cannot be verified. Philosophy encourages us to ask whether any statement can be meaningful if it cannot be proved to be true or false and if it can't then are we best not to make such statements at all. It also points out that we can never truly know what other people perceive with their senses and we cannot always rely on the evidence our own senses - so can we ever really say with certainty that anything is true?
"One nice question to go away and ponder for yourself. How would you prove to me the truth of the statement 'All ravens are black'?”