Fact

Lore & Background

The word fact derives from the Latin factum and was first used in English with the same meaning: 'a thing done or performed' – a meaning now obsolete outside the law. The common usage of 'something that has really occurred or is the case' dates from the mid-16th century. Barbara J. Shapiro wrote in her book A Culture of Fact how the concept of a fact evolved, starting within the English legal tradition of the 16th century.

Reader's Guide

The concept of fact is most commonly considered in epistemology, where it is central to questions of knowledge and truth. In science, a scientific fact is an objective and verifiable observation, in contrast with a hypothesis or theory. Philosophers and scientists distinguish between states of affairs in the external world and assertions of fact relevant in scientific analysis. The term fact also indicates a matter under discussion deemed to be true or correct, or may indicate an allegation or stipulation of something that may or may not be a true fact, a usage with a long history in standard English according to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.

Did You Know?

• The word fact derives from the Latin factum, first used in English meaning 'a thing done or performed'.
• Charles Sanders Peirce described four methods to decide what to believe: tenacity, method of authority, a priori, and scientific method.
• The Slingshot argument claims to show that all true statements stand for the same thing, the truth value true.
• Moral philosophers since David Hume have debated whether values are objective and thus factual, known as the is–ought distinction.