Every text about truth must begin noticing that truth is the most written-about topic in philosophy, which is due to the importance of the notion of truth.

You may or may not find the above sentence to be true. Perhaps you find some parts of the sentence to be true, but not others. Perhaps you feel incredibly bored by yet another text about truth. Why discuss the matter any further?

I will argue that the term of truth has a different meaning in different domains, that this can cause serious issues in any discourse, and that it can help explain the seeminly incredible irrational types of discourse we witness today. Is there a (metaphysical) property common to all usages of truth? That is for philosophers to decide. However, I find it fundamental to any rational debate to reflect on the usage of central ideas, such as the idea of truth. In an age which sees both amazing scientific progress and Flat Earthers, such reflections could even help understanding these kinds of nonsynchronisms.

The philosopher Michael P. Lynch argues in favor of a pluralistic theory of truth. Together with Jeremy Wyatt he states that the concept of truth must be separated from truth properties, and that depending on the domain, different things can play the role of truth bearer. In the scientific and political discourse, a number of important domains exist. In each domain, I believe the matter of an objective truth as well as our ability to recognize it, should it exist, varies to a great extent.

Regarding the number and types of domains, a pragmatic approach is best. Defining such a taxonomy of domains is effectively a model. As the adage goes, models are always wrong, but more or less useful. The basis for the domains are properties of the world which appear to be uniquely important, and not easily reducible. These properties are:

empirical: time and space
ontological/categorical: which kind of things exist, and of which kind a specific thing is
axiomatic/symbolic: defined, self-contained sets of symbols and rules
causal: Without the thing A, the thing B would not exist, or at least it would be different.

Of course, other categories might be introduced. For example, I would subsume moral propositions under the axiomatic category, but its practical importance could motivate creating a separate category for such propositions.

Disclaimer: The table below is my own work, so I cannot provide ...

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