2007-06-12 15:38:51 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
No; many (if not most) questions cannot be answered, at least by humans. E.g., where did the universe come from? How did time become? Where did God come from?
Get the point?
As to simpler, human-involved questions, it all depends: what is true in one culture may or may not be true in another culture.
2007-06-12 15:44:34 · answer #1 · answered by Nothingusefullearnedinschool 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
This question is interesting because though many before me answer it with a "no," they lack the mindset of such a great answer.
Let us look at the possibilities. If you answer the question "yes," then your answer is not just an answer but also AS AN ANSWER demonstrates (or is an example of) the very type of answer. This could be considered a universalist approach (i.e., there are fixed universals).
If we shift and change the answer to "it depends," we find that as an ANSWER it too affirms its own position. This we could call a relativist approach (ie., there are numerous particulars and contexts).
However, by saying "no," we find ourselves simultaneously affirming and denying the very question being asked. "No" becomes itself a "definitive" answer but at the same time it is as an ANSWER UNDERMINING (unlike the other possibilities listed previously) itself. Because a "no" answer is denying definitive answers while at the same time being a definitive answer itself. It is, as Derrida points out, undecidable.
2007-06-13 00:27:43 · answer #2 · answered by Think 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
no.
Answer this question. Is it bad to kill somone?
If you answered yes, imagine you're holding a gun at a man whose hand is about to press a button that will send nuclear explosives to every major city in the world. Is your answer still yes?
If you answered no (which I hope you didn't), imagine you're standing over an infant with a gun in your hand.
However, the answer to questions like that will ALWAYS boil down to how you can avoid the worst outcomes.
The answer to YOUR question, IS definitely, no.
Reply to Kieth above, the way the question is worded, you must take one extreme or the other. I do, however completely agree with you, that "it depends" would be more accurate, especially since it reaffirms itself in its own answer. "There are many cases of particulars" ~Aristotle
2007-06-13 01:05:02 · answer #3 · answered by Born at an early age 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. Except for exact sciences like mathematics, everything is relative. There is not such thing as an absolute truth, for everything depends on the way people look at it. Perception is reality; and each and every person perceive things differently; ergo, there are different realities.
2007-06-12 22:54:43 · answer #4 · answered by melissa986 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I've found throughout my lifetime that, outside of mathematics, there is NEVER a true and definite answer.
2007-06-12 22:42:40 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Maybe you ask here,' is there always a true answer to be found, to which I respond with, yes. 'Is there always an answer -- true or not, definite or not -- to be given?: I would respond with, no.
2007-06-16 18:51:49 · answer #6 · answered by ? 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Truth is like beauty; it is in the eye of the beholder. So many people, so many opinions of what the truth is or isn’t. All we can ever hope for is a consensus of agreement.
2007-06-16 21:59:42 · answer #7 · answered by john n 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. I'd say the opposite, that everything is relative, until scientists can prove otherwise, and they may never achieve any absolutes.
2007-06-12 23:30:55 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
In a universre of such unpredictable behavior, "chaos theory", anything is possible.
2007-06-12 22:42:20 · answer #9 · answered by Nick C 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What is truth? What is definite?
2007-06-12 22:46:37 · answer #10 · answered by wyllow 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋