Defining Truth (Part 1)

“Test everything, hold onto the good.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:21 NIV

 

My English Professor once said that “if you find one thing in this universe that is absolute, you have started down the path of truth.” But what exactly is truth? It’s an important question, isn’t it? Even more important is the answer (and the conclusions therein). If truth is objective, then conclusions about reality (religion, science, ethics) are either right or wrong. However, if truth and reality are relative – the conclusions are also relative. Everything is right and wrong – depending on the individual point of view. But logic seems to favor the first option about absolutes.

 

I am absolutely sure, there are no absolutes…

I have always felt that the statement ”there are no absolutes” has some startlingly consequences. If there are no absolutes in science, religion, or ethics – then we are all in a lot of trouble. Rape, murder, theft, charity, life, and love are all equally right and equally wrong. Imagine such a world where relativity like this rules our courts, our governments, and our research labs. What a hindrance it would be. Fortunately, most people recognize the fallacious of such a statement. Philosophically speaking, the problem with “there are no absolutes” is that of an absolute.

 

I remember realizing the exact same thing when watching “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith”. The final scene shows Obi-Wan facing down his corrupted apprentice Anakin Skywalker. The two prepare for a duel, but before the fight begins Anakin gives Obi-Wan the absolute statement of: “If you’re not with me, you’re my enemy”. Obi-Wan is quick to respond: “Only sith [the bad guys] deal in absolutes”. That pretty much ruined the movie for me. Obi-Wan just gave an absolute statement, but it introduced to me how such statements contradict.

 

These kinds of statement are utterly self-defeating. If there are no absolutes, there are absolutes. If relativity is true, then the statement “there are no absolutes” is also relative – which means there are absolutes.

 

 

Some things are absolute, some things are relative…

However, I doubt most people who say truth is relative hold to this strong version of relativism above. Most people, at one time in their life or another, all but assume that some things are absolute. And most people see how “there are no absolutes” virtually falls apart before the sentence is finished. 

 

No… I think that is when people talk of relativity, they are saying some things are relative (a statement that I agree with). Thus, the saying of “what’s right for you, isn’t right for me” really comes into play. But how much is relative? And does this less-exhaustive version of relativity really avoid the same consequences as strong relativity.

 

Even celebrity atheist Richard Dawkins, an outspoken liberal, recognizes that the danger of relativity still exists even when we grant some absolutes. “I think we face an equal but much more sinister challenge from the left, in the shape of cultural relativism – the view that scientific truth is only one kind of truth and it is not to be especially privileged”. The problem Dawkins faces is that, even when we grant absolutes, it does very little to resolve what is absolute and what is relative.

 

So how do we know what is true?  

So, the question we are facing is how to detect real ontological truth from something that is relative. And that’s something I will think about in a future post.

 

Introductary Post

I’m not much of a blogger. I admit that I don’t consider the internet the strongest source for communication or for intellectual conversation. The vast majority of blogs are simply the megaphone of one’s presuppositions. In the vast sea of the internet “opinions” and “arguments” are suffering from a disturbing deflation. So (if this is how I feel), what is my intention by starting this blog? I honestly shouldn’t expect much more. I don’t think of myself so high and mighty that my opinions come at a greater price. This is way I shall not broadcast my blog so loudly. This place is a place of honest reflection on the day, on philosophical and theological ponderings. If you happen to find it, feel free to read my thoughts. But take them at a grain of salt. I imagine that I will be wrong half the time, and the other half only half-true. Still, I find that writing down my thoughts helps me grapple with my own presuppistions to get to the heart of what all men really want: truth. But should my thoughts garnish anything beneficial, it would be wrong for me to keep not to share. So – if somehow a post of mines is beneficial to you – I will be very blessed indeed.