There are no absolute distinctions between what is true and what is false. Discuss this claim. I’d always believed that the truth was a rather simple idea. To me, it was something that was true or correct or existing in this world. But after all the discussions in TOOK, with family and with friends, and after deep rumination on the subject, Vive realized that’s it’s a much more broad, complex and often mind-boggling concept.
However, now I see that there are essentially three main factors that lead us to accepting meeting as the truth: a strong emotional belief, our senses (particularly sight) and applied logic and reasoning. These are in fact three of the ways of knowing. Language is used to aid the acceptance of a truth but in the end, we only accept it if we emotionally believe in it or if it fits into our logic and reasoning. Throughout the course of this essay, I will analyze whether the truths determined by these factors (or ways of knowing) are absolute (always true, without any conditions) or relative to the circumstances within which they are accepted.
If the truths are absolute, that will how that there is an absolute distinction between what is true and what is false. Let us consider the first factor – emotional belief. As humans, we all have emotions, and so whether we like it or not, our emotions affect our acceptance of ideas or events or any particular subject as a truth. However, sometimes, emotions become the basis for the acceptance of a truth. Perhaps the most common example where this is seen is with the idea of God.
Personally, I am still debating the nature and existence of God, but I have seen many people, within my extended family itself, that believe in God (a Geiger power) solely because of a strong, emotional belief that God exists. I have asked them why they believe in God and most of the time, they are surprised by the question. The answer I quite often get is “if God didn’t exist, then how were we created? ” If I respond by saying “then who created God? ” the response is “No one because God has always existed. Although this might be possible, it is clear that the emotional belief in God supersedes any logical reasoning or lack of sensual evidence (the other two factors) that might question the existence of God. The belief may have en cultivated by family, religion, culture or any other external factor but the fact remains that it is accepted as a truth mainly because of the strong emotions associated with it. However, these same emotions are incredibly varied between people because of the differences in family, religion, culture and other factors. Hence, there are also people (atheists) that have strong emotions against the existence of God.
As this difference in beliefs between people exists and will most probably always exist because of the diversity of our world, emotional belief as a truth cannot be absolute. It is relative to the person believing the truth. Applied logic and reasoning is fundamental to determining axioms, formulas and concepts in Math that are considered to be truths. In Math HAL, we have a topic called induction whereby the goal is to prove a certain formula or equation. We can prove the formula, but on all occasions, it is only true within a certain domain, I. E. For a certain set of values.
This snows that the torture is not an absolute truth but relative to the variables involve But let’s also consider the simplest equation known to man: 1 +1 = 2. Isn’t this an absolute truth? I used to believe so, until I discovered that a pile of sand + a pile of sand still equals a pile of sand. In this scenario, 1 +1 = 1. When I first heard this mentioned by my TOOK teacher, it was in fact a silent revelation. I was surprised to learn that even this equation is not an absolute truth. It is relative to what it is applied to. The equation 1 pencil + 1 pencil = 2 pencils certainly holds, but that’s only because Vive applied it to pencils.
It does not hold when applied to substances such as sand. Similarly, in Chemistry we have learned that there are certain properties of eater that always hold regardless of the situation. However, when I attended the Advanced Space Academy program last summer, I learned that certain properties of matter change in space. As such, one of the main reasons astronauts frequently go to space is to conduct research with these new properties to develop solutions to problems on earth. Thus, properties of matter are not absolute but in fact relative to the environment within which the matter is part of.
In different environments, such as earth and space, the properties of matter will differ. Even for the second factor, which often seems to be true without any conditions (and hence absolute), the truth is in fact always relative to some particular condition. Consider this hypothetical situation: Right now, I am looking at a table in front of me. I can see the table in front of me, I can feel it and I can hear it if I knock on the wood. Is the table in front of me? Yes of course, 3 of my senses tell me that it’s in front of me and unless I’m in a virtual simulator of some sort, no one can deny that the table is in front of me.
But, is the table in front of me an absolute truth? The answer is no. The reason is because the table is in front of me, but it will not always be in front of me. In this situation, the truth about the table being in front of me is relative to time. It is a truth within a specific timeshare. If a truth is not relative to anything else, it is at least relative to time. Things within our universe are constantly changing and as a result, they are never always true, without any conditions. The truths determined by all three of the factors (and ways of knowing) are relative to certain circumstances within which they re accepted.
Hence, these truths are in fact falsities when these certain circumstances or conditions are not met. The opposite would also be true. Things that are generally false, for example the statement that “humans can float,” are only false under certain conditions. In this example, the condition is because we are on earth. When we are in space, we can definitely float. When there are always conditions to “truths” or “falsities,” it seems like there can never be an absolute distinction between what is true and what is false as an absolute distinction implies hat there are certain things that are and will always be true, regardless of conditions.
Hence, it seems like there is no absolute truth. The reason is because an absolute truth would have to be something that is perfect, dependent on absolutely nothing, everlasting, and pertaining to everyone – and we know of nothing with all those properties. However, there is a possibility that an absolute truth can exist. An assumption in my argument is that the truth must be known by one or more individuals to be determined if it is absolute or relative to something else. Perhaps here is an absolute truth in the universe that we are simply unaware of.
If that is the case, it wouldn’t matter even if we discovered it as there would be no way of determining something that is perfect, dependent on absolutely nothing and everlasting. Essentially, the quest for an absolute truth would yield no successful results. So what does this mean for us? Is there no complete truth with which we can always rely on, regardless of the situation? I guess not. But I think it’s good that it’s like that. If there was an absolute truth, and we somehow knew it was absolute, we eight drive ourselves mad wondering why such a truth exists, even if it was for our benefit.
At least this way, the truth is always relative to something else and hence subject to change. So if we don’t like the truth about something, we at least know that it’s not always true. That said, there are many truths that will certainly always be true in our lifetimes. We have to determine what is true relative to us and our environment, realize the impact it can have on us, and act accordingly to live our lives truthfully, happily and successfully. Word Count: 1428
