How Should We Understand Truth in Fluctuational Epistemology?
Abstract
This paper develops a novel account of truth grounded in fluctuational epistemology, a framework that situates knowledge within the ontological instability of reality. Traditional theories—correspondence, coherence, pragmatic, and deflationary—assume varying degrees of stability in the relation between propositions and the world. By contrast, this account treats truth as processual emergence: a dynamic stabilization that arises within fluctuating contexts of meaning, interaction, and interpretation. Drawing on process philosophy, recent work in philosophy of science, and the metaphysical implications of instability, I argue that truth should not be conceived as a static property but as an ongoing negotiation of provisional coherence amid flux. This model repositions truth as relational, temporal, and inherently unfinished, while retaining its epistemic force in guiding inquiry. The paper concludes by outlining how a fluctuational understanding of truth reframes scientific practice, philosophical method, and our orientation to knowledge in a world without fixed foundations.
