Definitions of truth as scholarly consensus are often found in modem literatures of the history and philosophy of science. They are not a product of the present century. During the 19th century, pragmatist philosopher Charles Peirce (1878/1957) defined truth as that "opinion which is fated to be ultimately agreed to by all who investigate". Peirce believed that proper inquiry (at least if carried on to infinity) could lead members of a scientific community, who initially might disagree, to reach inevitable conclusions. His stress on consensus simply assumed that many heads are better than one and that truth is a product of many minds. Of course, as Peirce recognized, it is perhaps best not to define truth solely in terms of whatever a community of inquirers accepts.
For example, one must exclude the possibility that scientists will accept fraudulent research. Similarly, political or religious dogma sometimes may deter- mine the conclusions of scholars, most obviously in totalitarian societies. Hence, notions of usefulness and/or some sort of correspondence may remain necessary. In fact, scientists often consider a scientific idea valid or true because they find it useful and/or believe that it corresponds to the external world.
Thus the term communication has two different meanings, historically. It is rooted in the Latin word communis, which refers to "communion or the idea of a shared understanding of, or participation in, an idea or event". By the late 17th century, "the notion of imparting, conveying, or exchanging information and materials was incorporated into the concept". The two meanings do not exclude one another. Hence, Dewey's (1916) comments about the social import of communication:
Society not only continues to exist by transmission, by communication, but it may fairly be said to exist in transmission, in communication.
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