coherence theory of truth.
A theory of truth according to which a statement is true if it ‘coheres’ with other statements—false if it does not. Some criticisms focus on what ‘cohere’ means—‘is consistent with’ appears too weak, ‘entails and is entailed by’, too strong. Other criticisms have to do with the fact that it seems that some statements must be assigned a truth-value independently if others are to be assessed by way of their coherence. Although the theory is more plausible for axiomatic systems where ‘coherence’ can take the definite form of being derivable from the axioms, the theory is extended to contingent statements. This is often owed to the conviction that the truth or falsity of individual statements can never, or only rarely, be conclusively established. It is sometimes owed to the conviction that there may be several sets of cohering statements with equal claim to describe the world correctly.... ...
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