Reality, fantasy, facts and truth
Unicorns’ horns
How many horns do unicorns have?
Er, one.
Apparently this is a question concerning facts about what doesn’t exist. Alexis von Meinong (1853 - 1920) distinguished between those things which have existed or do exist and those which have never existed or no longer exist. He then distinguished types of relationships such as that between the colours red and green which is real, but doesn’t exist.[1] Then there’s the matter of factuality. If someone state a fact, we can say it’s true.
The implication seems to be whether truths about things which have never existed can really be true. Even although unicorns don’t exist, there are certain ‘facts’ about them – single horn, equine in appearance, quadriped.
Meinong thought that truth was a human construct even if facts were eternal. I’m inclined to agree. The truths of the past are not always the truths of today even if the fact is still the same.
Notes
1. I’m guessing that he’s talking about things that we perceive such as (abstract) qualities and ideas. Presumably the relationship between red and green is their membership of the set of colours called the spectrum, (perhaps) their relative positions within that group (i.e., wave lengths), and that they’re complementary colours. These are all ideas and real, but don’t exist per se. I think I understand what Meinong was getting at.
Er, one.
Apparently this is a question concerning facts about what doesn’t exist. Alexis von Meinong (1853 - 1920) distinguished between those things which have existed or do exist and those which have never existed or no longer exist. He then distinguished types of relationships such as that between the colours red and green which is real, but doesn’t exist.[1] Then there’s the matter of factuality. If someone state a fact, we can say it’s true.
The implication seems to be whether truths about things which have never existed can really be true. Even although unicorns don’t exist, there are certain ‘facts’ about them – single horn, equine in appearance, quadriped.
Meinong thought that truth was a human construct even if facts were eternal. I’m inclined to agree. The truths of the past are not always the truths of today even if the fact is still the same.
Notes
1. I’m guessing that he’s talking about things that we perceive such as (abstract) qualities and ideas. Presumably the relationship between red and green is their membership of the set of colours called the spectrum, (perhaps) their relative positions within that group (i.e., wave lengths), and that they’re complementary colours. These are all ideas and real, but don’t exist per se. I think I understand what Meinong was getting at.
Tomorrow, the King of France, who is currently non-existent, and his baldness. Leave your combs and brushes at home.
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