Falsity

Updated on Sep 30, 2024

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Falsity (from Latin falsitas) or falsehood is a perversion of truth originating in the deceitfulness of one party, and culminating in the damage of another party. Falsity is also a measure of the quality or extent of the falseness of something, while a falsehood may also mean simply an incorrect (false) statement, independent of any intention to deceive.

In the Frege–Church ontology, "truth" is the denotation of a true proposition, while "falsity" is the denotation of false propositions.

In Classical æsthetics, falsity is ugly, and truth is beautiful.

In existentialism, falsity is usually a thing to be avoided, and is not desired.

Examples

Counterfeiting money, or attempting to coin genuine legal tender without due authorization;

Tampering with wills, codicils, or such-like legal instruments;

Prying into the correspondence of others to their prejudice;

Using false weights and measures,

Adulterating merchandise, so as to render saleable what purchasers would otherwise never buy, or so as to derive larger profits from goods otherwise marketable only at lower figures;

Bribing judges,

Suborning witnesses;

Advancing false testimony;

Manufacturing spurious seals;

Forging signatures;

Padding accounts;

Interpolating the texts of legal enactments; and

Sharing in the pretended birth of supposititious offspring

are among the chief forms which this crime assumes.

References

Falsity Wikipedia

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