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'''Infallibility''', from [[Latin]] [[origin]] ('in', not + 'fallere', to deceive), is a term with a [[Diversity|variety]] of [[meanings]] related to knowing [[truth]] with certainty.
==In common speech==
When a [[person]], statement, teaching, or [[book]] is called 'infallible', this can mean any of the following:
:1. It is something that can't be [[proved]] false.
:2. It is something that can be [[Security|safely]] relied on
:3. It is something completely [[Trust|trustworthy]] and sure
When a person is called 'infallible', this can mean any of the following:
:1. Some [[statement]]s or teachings made by this [[person]] can be relied on to be certainly true
:2. All statements or teachings made by this person can be relied on to be [[Certainty|certainly]] true
:3. All [[information]] [[Belief|believed]] by this person is true
:4. This person is [[Freedom|free]] from flaws or defects, especially of a [[moral]] nature
:5. This person is always right. It seems [[everything]] they says becomes true
These definitions differ widely. In common [[speech]], 'infallibility' can refer to a [[person]] (or a [[group]] of persons), to an [[act]] of teaching by these persons, or to the information being taught.
Furthermore, infallibility can refer to the '[[absence]] of [[error]]' or to the '[[Potential|inability]] to err'. Although these are similar, they are [[philosophically]] distinct categories. For example, it is [[theoretically]] possible for a person to live their entire life without ever uttering a false sentence, even though they had the ability to err.
Infallibility is sometimes used to refer to someone's ability to 'learn' something with [[certainty]]. For example, a careful [[researcher]] might study a hundred books, each of which contains a few errors, and after carefully [[judging]] the statements in these [[books]] might [[Deduction|deduce]] the complete, error-free [[truth]]. This is referred to as 'learning infallibly' or 'knowing infallibly'. However, this [[meaning]] is rarely used.
==In psychology and sociology==
Infallibility is inseparable from [[human]] nature as a result of the aspect of the [[human condition]] called self-awareness. It is one of the features that set us apart from [[animals]], and as such, [[civilization]] cannot [[exist]] without it. In some cases, this may mean that a [[fact]] is to be accepted as true by all people; in others it may mean that an [[arbitrary]] [[decision]] must be made, and then not [[Argument|disputed]].
Bank transactions are an example of this. If one cannot obtain [[certainty]] when counting out a withdrawal, then all transactions would become negotiated. "I think SIX twenties make a hundred. After all, you can't be certain it is only five, and the customer is always right."
==In philosophy==
[[Epistemology]], a branch of philosophy, is concerned with the question of what, if anything, humans can know.
Some philosophical schools deny that people can know anything; others deny that people can know anything with [[certainty]]. For details, see [[existentialism]] and [[skepticism]].
The German [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_rationalist critical rationalist] philosopher [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Albert Hans Albert] presented a [[logical]] [[argument]] that fallibilism is ubiquitous and inevitable, even in the fields of [[mathematics]] and [[logic]]. For details, see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BCnchhausen_Trilemma Münchhausen Trilemma].
Other philosophical schools agree that people can know things with [[certainty]]. See [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphysics metaphysics], [[epistemology]], [[reason]] and [[logic]].[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infallible]
==References==
1. Cross, F.L. and Livingstone, E.A. (eds), "infallibility" in The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, p831. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1997. ISBN 0-19-211655-X
[[Category: Philosophy]]
'''Infallibility''', from [[Latin]] [[origin]] ('in', not + 'fallere', to deceive), is a term with a [[Diversity|variety]] of [[meanings]] related to knowing [[truth]] with certainty.
==In common speech==
When a [[person]], statement, teaching, or [[book]] is called 'infallible', this can mean any of the following:
:1. It is something that can't be [[proved]] false.
:2. It is something that can be [[Security|safely]] relied on
:3. It is something completely [[Trust|trustworthy]] and sure
When a person is called 'infallible', this can mean any of the following:
:1. Some [[statement]]s or teachings made by this [[person]] can be relied on to be certainly true
:2. All statements or teachings made by this person can be relied on to be [[Certainty|certainly]] true
:3. All [[information]] [[Belief|believed]] by this person is true
:4. This person is [[Freedom|free]] from flaws or defects, especially of a [[moral]] nature
:5. This person is always right. It seems [[everything]] they says becomes true
These definitions differ widely. In common [[speech]], 'infallibility' can refer to a [[person]] (or a [[group]] of persons), to an [[act]] of teaching by these persons, or to the information being taught.
Furthermore, infallibility can refer to the '[[absence]] of [[error]]' or to the '[[Potential|inability]] to err'. Although these are similar, they are [[philosophically]] distinct categories. For example, it is [[theoretically]] possible for a person to live their entire life without ever uttering a false sentence, even though they had the ability to err.
Infallibility is sometimes used to refer to someone's ability to 'learn' something with [[certainty]]. For example, a careful [[researcher]] might study a hundred books, each of which contains a few errors, and after carefully [[judging]] the statements in these [[books]] might [[Deduction|deduce]] the complete, error-free [[truth]]. This is referred to as 'learning infallibly' or 'knowing infallibly'. However, this [[meaning]] is rarely used.
==In psychology and sociology==
Infallibility is inseparable from [[human]] nature as a result of the aspect of the [[human condition]] called self-awareness. It is one of the features that set us apart from [[animals]], and as such, [[civilization]] cannot [[exist]] without it. In some cases, this may mean that a [[fact]] is to be accepted as true by all people; in others it may mean that an [[arbitrary]] [[decision]] must be made, and then not [[Argument|disputed]].
Bank transactions are an example of this. If one cannot obtain [[certainty]] when counting out a withdrawal, then all transactions would become negotiated. "I think SIX twenties make a hundred. After all, you can't be certain it is only five, and the customer is always right."
==In philosophy==
[[Epistemology]], a branch of philosophy, is concerned with the question of what, if anything, humans can know.
Some philosophical schools deny that people can know anything; others deny that people can know anything with [[certainty]]. For details, see [[existentialism]] and [[skepticism]].
The German [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_rationalist critical rationalist] philosopher [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Albert Hans Albert] presented a [[logical]] [[argument]] that fallibilism is ubiquitous and inevitable, even in the fields of [[mathematics]] and [[logic]]. For details, see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BCnchhausen_Trilemma Münchhausen Trilemma].
Other philosophical schools agree that people can know things with [[certainty]]. See [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphysics metaphysics], [[epistemology]], [[reason]] and [[logic]].[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infallible]
==References==
1. Cross, F.L. and Livingstone, E.A. (eds), "infallibility" in The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, p831. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1997. ISBN 0-19-211655-X
[[Category: Philosophy]]
