Some statements are true. For example, the statement “The Sun is larger than the Earth” is true. And some statements are false. For example, the statement “The Moon is larger than the Earth” is false. Truth and falsity are properties of statements. If you believe a true statement, then your belief is true. If you believe a false statement, then your belief is false. But what makes a true statement true and what makes a false statement false? The answer to this question depends on whether the statement under consideration is subjective or objective.
A statement is subjective if its truth depends on a belief of any person making the judgment about it. If a person believes that the statement is true, then it’s true. If a person believes the statement is false, then it’s false. This implies that subjective statements are abbreviated statements of personal beliefs. For example, “Cats make the best pets” is an example of a subjective statement. It’s an abbreviated statement of that could be expressed as follows: “I believe that cats make the best pets.” Note the words “I believe”. If a person believes this statement, then the statement is true, because the statement is describing something about the person’s belief. If a person denies this statement, then it’s false, because the statement is not describing something about the person’s belief.
In contrast, a statement is objective if it’s not subjective – that is, if what makes it true (or false) has to do with something independent of any person’s belief. The statements “The Sun is larger than the Earth” and “The Moon is larger than the Earth” are both objective. The truth and falsity of these statements do not depend on anyone’s belief. The truth of these objective statements depend on certain mind-independent facts.
Let’s consider some more examples.
S1: “The current President of the United States has a living aunt.”
This statement is an objective statement. It’s truth depends on whether the current President of the United States has a living aunt. It does not depend on anyone’s believing it’s true. The statement may be true even if the current President does not believe that it’s true.
Suppose Jack and Jill disagree about this statement. Jack believes this statement is true. Jill believes this statement is false. Can their beliefs both be correct at the same time? Since this statement is objective, they cannot both have correct beliefs at the same time. One of them must have a mistaken or false belief.
To say that a statement is objective is not to say that it’s true (or false). It’s just to say that the truth depends on something that is independent of anyone’s belief. S1 is in fact true. This is because the current President of the United States (Donald Trump) does in fact have a living aunt. This means that Jack’s belief is correct; but Jill’s belief is mistaken. Note that Jill believes that the denial of S1 is true. But it does not follow that the denial of S1 is true. When you believe any statement you necessarily believe that it’s true. But if the statement you’re considering is objective, it does not logically follow that the statement is true. It may be false, and if it is false, then you have a mistaken (or false) belief. So do not say “It’s true for Jill”. Say “Jill is mistaken” or “Jill has a false belief”.
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S2: “Chocolate ice cream is the best ice cream flavor.”
This statement is subjective. Whether it’s true or not depends on the belief of the person making the judgment about it.
Suppose Jack and Jill disagree about it. Jack believes this statement is true. Jill believes this statement is false. Can their beliefs both be correct at the same time? Since it’s subjective, the answer is ‘Yes’. The truth of S2 depends on the believer of the statement. If Jack believes that chocolate is the best ice cream flavor and Jill believes that vanilla is the best ice cream flavor, they both can be correct; neither is mistaken.
As I pointed out above, when you believe any statement you necessarily believe that it’s true. If the statement is subjective, it does logically follow that the statement is true.
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S3: “The car appears green.”
This statement is subjective. It’s truth depends on the belief of anyone who judges it. In other words, it’s an abbreviated form of the sentence “I believe the car appears green.”
Suppose Jack and Jill disagree about it. Jack believes this statement is true. Jill believes this statement is false. Can their beliefs both be correct at the same time? Since it’s subjective, the answer is ‘Yes’. The truth of S3 depends on the belief of the person making the judgment about it. If Jack believes that the car appears green and Jill believes the car doesn’t appear green, they both can be correct.
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S4: “The current President of the United States believes that the Eagles will win the Super Bowl next year.”
This statement is objective. Even though the truth of the statement depends on what the current President of the United States believes, it doesn’t depend on what any believer of the statement believes.
Suppose Jack and Jill disagree about it. Jack believes this statement is true. Jill believes this statement is false. Can their beliefs both be correct at the same time? Since the statement is objective, the answer is ‘No’. The truth of S4 does not depend on what Jack believes or what Jill believes. If the current President does not have this particular belief about the Eagles winning the Super Bowl, then Jack has a mistaken belief, and Jill has a true belief. If, however, the current President does have this particular belief, then Jack has a true belief, and Jill has a mistaken belief.
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S5: “God exists.”
This statement is objective. Even though we may not know whether this statement is true (and some philosophers believe that we do know about the truth of this statement), whether it’s true or false does not depend on what just anyone believes. It’s true if God exists. It’s false if God does not exist.
Suppose Jack and Jill disagree about it. Jack believes this statement is true. Jill believes this statement is false. Can their beliefs both be correct at the same time? Since the statement is objective, the answer to this is ‘No’.
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S6: “Suicide is always immoral.”
It’s controversial whether this statement is objective or subjective.
Suppose Jack and Jill disagree about it. Jack believes this statement is true. Jill believes this statement is false. Can their beliefs both be correct at the same time? I’m not going to say. As I said, the answer to this question is controversial. Some people say that S6 is subjective. Some people say that S6 is objective. If it’s subjective, then both Jack and Jill can be correct. If it’s objective, then one of them is mistaken. What do you think?
Some Questions to Think About
Some people argue that S6 is subjective because there is a disagreement. Is this a good argument?
Some people argue that S6 is subjective because no one knows what is moral. Is this a good argument?
Some people argue that S6 is subjective because morality is subjective. Is this a good argument?
Some people argue that S6 is objective because we argue about the morality of suicide. Is this a good argument?
Some people argue that S6 is objective because we criticize people for their moral beliefs. Is this a good argument?
