Randy Holmes-Farley
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I disagree with your assessment that a fact can be false. In fact, i cannot find any definition of the word fact where it says one can be untrue. The defining feature of a fact is that it is true.
What i would say is your definition of a fact is your opinion.
I understand what you are saying, and many (not all) definitions of a "fact" do require the fact to also be true, but there are many common uses of the word fact that follow what I am saying. Such as the fairly common sentence "The facts are in dispute". A sane person would never dispute a "fact" if they are true by the very meaning of the word.
However, if you like, replace the word fact in my original post with the phrase 'things purporting to be facts"?
I don't agree that an untrue fact is an opinion.
For example, I would never call this sentence an opinion:
"I am holding a pencil".
No one except me knows if it is true, and I don't see how it being false makes it an opinion.