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A table illustrating the difference between knowledge and opinion (and the proportional allocation to truth, verisimilitude and falsity) based in part on Mortimer J. Adler's Ten Philosophical Mistakes.

Likelihood

Label

Explanation

Truth

Verisimilitude

Falsity

KNOWLEDGE

Self-evident or necessary truth because its opposite is impossible (e.g., a part is less than a whole; definitions like "a triangle is a three-sided plane figure;" if A is larger than B, and B is larger than C, then A is larger than C, etc.)

These show certitude, incorrigibility and immutability.

The likelihood of falsity or verisimilitude is minimal if not totally absent.

Based on "first principles" (e.g. A is not non-A, and A at the same time)

Truth

Verisimiltude

Falsity

Knowledge

-a claim with strong support in the form of reason, evidence, explanatory power.

-a claim that is more compelling than any of its competing claims.

-a claim that may be refuted or revised in the future as additional knowledge is acquired.

-may be "habitual knowledge," that is, knowledge you once had the proof for but can no longer prove if asked (e.g, the square on the hypotenuse of a right angled is equal to the sum of the squares on the other two sides).

-may include knowledge based on authorities (people you trust) (e.g., I know that Paris is a real city though I have no empirical or sensory experience of this. I trust the authorities. I know that Highway 11 will get me to North Bay though I have no empirical experience of this. I trust these authorities.)

Truth

Verisimilitude

Falsity

Opinion

-a claim supported by weak evidence or reason.

-a claim that has far less support, evidence, reasonableness, and explanatory power than a competing claim.

-a claim that is more likely to be characterized by falsity than truth, albeit there may be a minimal rationale for keeping the option open. It may have a small claim to verisimilitude.

Truth

Verisimilitude

Falsity

opinion

-mere opinion

-personal prejudices

-assertions without any evidence

-personal tastes

-personal preferences

-any claim to truth is not warranted

Note the likelihood of falsity and verisimilitude increases as we go lower down the Knowledge-Opinion continuum.

“…it is not incorrect to say of one and the same thing that we know it (because we have sufficient grounds for affirming it to be true) and that we also believe it (because the grounds we have still leave us with some trace of doubt about its truth).” (p.87)

Adler, M. J. (1985). Ten philosophical mistakes. New York: Collier Books.