Concept in Definition ABC
Miscellanea / / July 04, 2021
By Gabriel Duarte, in Nov. 2008
A fact is any event verifiable by means of the perception of the senses. Despite how little relevant it may seem at first glance to delineate into a correct delimitation of the term, it It is true that it is of the utmost importance for scientific endeavor to achieve a definition that is as accurate as possible.
The first point to consider is whether a specific fact should be taken as a manifestation of reality to the that we have at least limited access, or only as a piece of information that in addition to showing the truth of things, the hidden. The first position is identified with scientific realism, while the second does so with logical empiricism.
In any case, whatever the theory with which one has empathy, we cannot fail to recognize that, at the moment of initiating a investigation scientific, the triggering question will always have an anchor in the reality that the researcher lives or has lived. From these realities, questions have been created that, by not finding answers, can be done in a systematic and methodological way through scientific research. However, there are many other questions or "curiosities" that can arouse the experience of certain events or immersion in a certain reality, which we can know and "
investigate"Informally or using what is commonly known as" common sense. "In scientific realism, the fact, which would be real, is usually contrasted with the theory, which would be a conceptual interpretation. On the other hand, in logical empiricism, both aspects can be considered as conceptual, insofar as the fact is interpreted merely as data.
This variety of postures has its correlate in the history of the philosophy, more specifically, regarding the existing positions regarding the role that the senses play in human knowledge. Basically, since ancient times there has been a current identifiable as realistic that attributed truth to what is known to the senses. At the same time, there were also voices that questioned this statement, saying that the existence of Sensory perceptions do not necessarily justify platitudes that are taken for granted by them. This contrast had a meeting point in the philosophy of Kant, who values the data of the meanings and the categories that the subject applies to them as long as they reach a knowledge of the phenomena.
It has also been questioned on several occasions whether the scientific fact can be separated from the scientific theory, insofar as it is the interpretation that makes the fact significant.. Anyway, beyond the solution that is exposed, there will always be different opinions in this regard.
In other levels, for example the legal or judicial, an event is that event that occurred, caused by one or more people, and that materially or moral causes harm to another or other people. Thus, the freedom concerning all human beings is surpassed, which is enjoyed by their human condition (what is called human rights), and generates a responsibility, which can be civil, criminal or administrative that must respond for having been the cause of the harmful event.
In journalistic activity, on the other hand, the fact is also an event that, due to some of its characteristics, becomes a fact. newsworthy, either because of its magnitude, its importance, its closeness to the people who will receive this news, or because it is unusual information or curious. For example, a visit by a foreign President to the country may be a news event, a meteorological alert that may cause material damage or power outages. electricity in the city, or the murder of a neighbor of the city for an alleged "settling of accounts." In all these cases, those who determine what is newsworthy and what is not, are the editors or editors of the media, be they written, radio, television or digital.
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