Philosophical Pillar of Truth Examined in Lawrence University Main Hall Forum

APPLETON, WIS. -- One of mankind's oldest and most basic philosophical questions -- What is truth? -- will be the focus of a Lawrence University Main Hall Forum Tuesday, Jan. 23.

Thomas Ryckman, professor of philosophy at Lawrence, presents, "Facts and Truth," at 4:15 p.m. in Main Hall, Room 202. The event is free and open to the public.

Ryckman will discuss a version of the correspondence theory of truth, which says a proposition is true when it conforms with some fact or state of affairs. He will compare his version of the theory to one presented by noted 20th-century British philosopher Bertrand Russell, one of the founders of analytic philosophy.

A member of the Lawrence faculty since 1984, Ryckman is a specialist in philosophy of language and philosophy of mind. He earned his Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.