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A '''fact''' is perhaps best described as a factual statement + [[truth]]. Facts are generally held to be [[mind-independent]], i.e. they would continue to be the case whether or not anyone believed them, or indeed whether or not there were any minds to believe them in the first place.

A '''fact''' is perhaps best described as a statement that is [[truth|true]]. Facts are generally held to be [[mind-independent]], i.e. they would continue to be the case whether or not anyone believed them, or indeed whether or not there were any minds to believe them in the first place.

A factual statement has a [[truth value]], that is to say it is ''capable of being true '''or''' false''. Not all statements are of this form, as we can see below:

In logic, a [[Statement (logic)|statement]] has a [[truth value]], that is to say it is ''capable of being true '''or''' false''. Not all statements are of this form, as we can see below:

1. Table [[salt]] is comprised of [[sodium]] and [[chlorine]].

1. Table [[salt]] is comprised of [[sodium]] and [[chlorine]].

In statement 2, the roles are reversed. This time it is the very existence of the subject-entity that allows room for dispute. As all philosophical "proofs" of the existence of God are highly controversial, if not outright failures, the usual fallback position is an assertion of [[faith]]. As it is equally impossible to disprove the existence of God (see [[verification transcendence]]), a [[stalemate]] is the result.

In statement 2, the roles are reversed. This time it is the very existence of the subject-entity that allows room for dispute. As all philosophical "proofs" of the existence of God are highly controversial, if not outright failures, the usual fallback position is an assertion of [[faith]]. As it is equally impossible to disprove the existence of God (see [[verification transcendence]]), a [[stalemate]] is the result.