I’m not a philosopher. I don’t even play one on TV. But I do have my own opinions, which according to our First Amendments Rights, and despite the current Cancel Culture, I am free to express.
So here are my definitions of Belief, Truth, Fact and Lie.
Belief
An individual person’s opinion derived from their own person experiences and education and without evidence or collaboration. Example:
“I believe there is a cow outside”. There is no evidence of this. That person has not gone outside, looked outside or heard a cow mooing outside. There is no collaboration (with evidence of it), but that person believes what they say. They are not lying.
Truth
A belief supported by evidence and/or collaboration from the view of the individual(s) holding that same belief. Example:
“There is a cow standing on that hill outside”. That person can see that cow. Others can see that same cow. Visual evidence supports that it is a cow. This is a true statement, and not a lie.
Fact
A truth that has been tested, re-tested and agreed upon by a majority of people and not dispelled by reasonable objective argument. Example:
“The cow outside is actually a cardboard cutout”. The Truth of those who think it is a real cow is not disputed. Their Truth, without knowledge of additional physical evidence, is still their Truth and not a Lie for them. But after additional testing and evidence (examining, touching, testing), the Fact is the cow is not real, but instead made of cardboard.
Lie
A Lie is a statement made, verbally or in writing, that contradicts your Belief. You cannot lie about a Truth or a Fact. Examples:
“The world is flat”. If you truly Believe this, then it is not a Lie, despite it contradicting a known Fact.
“The world is round”. If you truly Believe that the world is flat, than this is a Lie, despite it agreeing with a known Fact.
Note
Notice that Fact is based on tests, objective analysis and a Majority Agreement on the results. It should never be taken that Facts are indelible, permanent, unchanging. They can still be wrong. Future evidence can disprove long held facts: The atom is the smallest unit of matter, the Earth is the center of the universe, time is constant, etc.
There are no absolutes