correspondence theory

American  

noun

Philosophy.

1. the theory of truth that a statement is rendered true by the existence of a fact with corresponding elements and a similar structure.

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Etymology

Origin of correspondence theory

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Quite the opposite—it was an expansive elaboration of a morphological correspondence theory that drove Carolee for so long: This looks like this.

From The New Yorker

Let’s use the correspondence theory, whereby a statement is true if it corresponds to verifiable facts in an objective reality.

From The Guardian

The correspondence theory, then, does not test the truth-claim of the assertion; it only gives a fresh definition of it.

From Project Gutenberg

The superiority of the 'correspondence' theory over the belief in 'intuitions' lies in its insistence that thought is not to audit its own accounts.

From Project Gutenberg

In order to avoid the difficulty which wrecked the 'correspondence' theory, that of making the truth of an assertion reside in an inexperienceable relation to an unattainable reality, this view maintains that an idea is true if it is consistent with the rest of our thoughts, and so can be fitted with them into a coherent system.

From Project Gutenberg