“ A picture is worth a thousand words.”  Many people use this quote, but is it true? Can you really get more out of a picture than a 1000 word piece of literature? Can a picture “tell the truth” better than literate or literature “tell the truth” better than a picture or work of art? What area of knowledge can “tell the truth” the best?

        Knowledge gained by literature and art is gained through emotion. The difference lies with the fact that knowledge gained by literature is also gained through language, where as that gained by art is gained through empiricism. Also, both literature and art are subjunctive to the knower, so the knowledge one person gains from a piece or literature or work or art may be different then that gained by another person who reads or sees the same thing. The truth told by these two forms of knowledge are going to be based on personal perspective. So, doesn’t that mean that both art and literature do not tell the truth, but rather evoke a truth because of their subjectivity?

        First of all to define the terms, for the purpose of this essay, literature is creative writing of recognized artistic value. Literature can included poetry, prose, fiction and non-fiction. Now moving on to truth. What is the truth ? When we seek to know, we claim that we seek to know the truth, but what is the truth? Truth is often defined as conformity to fact or actuality or a statement proven to be or accepted as true. Some philosophers have been sceptics, claiming that we know nothing. This view comes from the poem “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage by Lord Byron. “ All that we know is, nothing can be known.” Does this mean that we can never  know anything for certain? Or is this view just self-refuting? If all we know is nothing, how can we know that we know nothing? I do not believe this view is correct and we will not use it for the purpose of this essay.

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McMullin 2

Other ways of establishing the truth are truth as it corresponds with facts, meaning that it is true if it corresponds with fact and false if it does not. Facts are states of affairs which we actually obtain, independently of our perceptions of them, or our beliefs about them. Truth as Coherence, meaning that something is true if it is consistent will all the other propositions we hold true. Coherence theories of truth imply that statements are true if and only if they fit in with the vast interrelated systems which constitute our general view of the ...

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