In my limited time being alive (22 years) I have started to regard any form of truth being construed to a degree where it is basically situational. I've been researching logic, and am wondering if truth in itself is a fallacy? With as many variables and chaos the Earth has, how can one reason truth out of scenarios constantly under change?
2007-09-25 09:34:58 · 19 answers · asked by MrPodpechan 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Unknowable is not the same as non-existent.
You are conflating issues. You have noticed that the world is complicated. You have noticed that it is impossible for us to "reason truth out of scenarios constantly under change." But that does not mean that the "truth" of the matter does not exist.
Maybe you could say you no longer believe in "knowledge."
As far as whether it is a "fallacy," I'm not even sure what that means. I would not think you were using the word "fallacy" in a technical way, except that you say you have been "researching logic." So assuming you are using fallacy in a formal sense: A fallacy is a flaw in the logic or form of an argument. "Truth" is a noun, not an argument. Saying "truth is a fallacy" is essentially meaningless.
2007-09-25 10:53:10 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
You're an insightful 22 year old.
There is no such thing as "objective truth," because there is no objective reality. What we call "reality" is only what we as a larger group agree is real. Each person's reality is slightly different, based on their own experiences and the way they have interpreted them.
Since truth can only exist when there is an objective world against which to compare it, there can be no such thing as truth. Even if a statement fits within the context of all our experiences to date, and therefore seems "true," there's no way to know that the future won't reveal some entirely new perspective that renders the idea false.
Keep this insight in mind, and don't be tempted by the false sense of security that comes from making yourself believe "there is only one reality, and this is it." The most dangerous philosophies emerge out of this idea. It may be a little unsettling to realize that there is no truth out there, but really, it's very empowering.
It's actually even more unsettling to realize that most people are not capable of understanding this, and are deliberately blinding themselves to it. -- And THAT'S the TRUTH!
2007-09-25 10:03:06 · answer #2 · answered by Sir N. Neti 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
light a match, put it under your small finger and burn yourself, don't stop untill you feel pain. was it real or did you just imagine that you just did feel pain, if you in your own mind are not capable of a single exact acceptance of left-right hot-cold ,right -wrong ;then you probably can not comprehend that truth is an absolute not a philosophical question. you must want bill clintons version of define is or it or that really was not sex. if you are unwilling to define in your own conscious mind what you know to be truth there are going to be lots of people to lead you into places of the mind that will make logic seem like a lie and whatever they say or profess be an ABSOLUTE TRUTH, better ground your young behind in some hard rational common sense!
2007-09-25 11:15:26 · answer #3 · answered by m7a7c7h7i7m 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Truth is both absolute and relative. Most of the times we don't see the whole picture of something and we are only able to draw rough conclusions which refer to a relative truth. When one is able to see something from the "outside" rather that the "inside", with a panoramic view, then is he able to see the absolute truth. Take for example God. How many different beliefs and opinions are there concerning God? There are all true, but only relatively so. And that's because we are not able to see God and understand Him in its fullness. To make more clear what I am trying to explain, I like to visualise truth as a giant cocoon that surrounds our reality. We are aware of it, but at any time we can only see part of it. In order to really know truth someone would need to transcend time and space and observe it as a whole.
2007-09-25 12:42:31 · answer #4 · answered by Alexander K 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If truth is defined as 'however the universe actually is', the question becomes 'when'?
From this springs the question, if truth is temporally dependent, is truth still truth? Perhaps truth is a moving target, or only lives in the past.
2007-09-25 10:26:08 · answer #5 · answered by mitten 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
yes. because 2+2 is not always equal to 4! because if you have two bags of oranges + two bags of oranges, you don't get 4 oranges. that actually depends on how many oranges are in the bags. so truth can be a fallacy! like the Pres. says at one point that there's weapon of mass destruction there. at that time it was the truth, until it was otherwise. so truth can be affected in various ways, because of the time and space (when and where), the people and there beliefs, etc.
2007-09-25 10:43:19 · answer #6 · answered by Lari 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
If we take your analysis at face value, it is a form of the 'Liar's Paradox', since it would necessarily make its own truth fallacious. Any self negating statement must be taken as nonsense.
2007-09-25 09:40:57 · answer #7 · answered by neil s 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Five people, viewing the same event, will most likely describe it differently. Each brings his/her own perspective to the event, and each description is a truth of its own. Truth is fluid. It is a concept. Everything is always changing, even truth.
Continue to use your powers for good and the world will be a safer place. :)
2007-09-25 10:12:51 · answer #8 · answered by mathcat345 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Truth is the claim the person of authority makes. The authority of that person depends on how well his claim is accepted by people, so beyond a certain number of doubters the "truth" is no longer true.
2007-09-25 13:41:36 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Truth is a pure science and the pure science always establishes the complete truth of its subject of study, which can be explained and understood like this:
"The earth has the gravity"," all the matter is composed of atoms", etc. These things of existence were discovered and told in the way it is understood,so it is the science of its existence, which is a true condition and the statement is a truth! This science of truth was in existence even before the mankind came into existence! The advanced research in this line improves the knowledge namely the truth to a better level as refined and accurate position of truth itself!
So all the science of nature's existence are just hidden and unknown to man, right in the nature itself and they came out by man's continued research by his inquisistiveness! This knowledge of truth of all existence of nature is a pure science and these science does have their own conditionalities for their existence in the terrestial conditions!
The science of making the chairs and tables from the wood is hidden in the tree itself and they are not resting with us! So the making of car,computer and the spaceship are all in existence even before to the arrival of mankind on Earth! So the truth of everything in existence is a pure science which we call as knowledge!
If you say, on a particular day of your life, that you are exactly 20 years 4 months and five days old as exact time from the date of your birth then the staement is true since it confirms the science of existence of you from the datum level, namely the date of your birth! Of course on the very next day it does not holds good since you have become one more day old in reference to the datum!
So the yesterday's truth of particular age has now changed to the new level of truth, which we need to understand as the development of truth and it is one directional and can never be reversed, namely the development of truth is a irreversible phenomena namely we cannot go back to yesterday! To get it more clarified, you can have these examples:
Your childish arms,legs, heart etc have now changed to new level and so the truth has developed, which cannot be reversed to the original baby level, while the baby hands only has developed to become the big hands of today!
In the same token you can frame everything to know the truth of existence of nature in all its forms to understand the TRUTH itself, better!
When we apply the truth theory to the man's life, the truth of an incident if lied by one person, then we investigate to know the truth and in the event of our system for the investigating and prosecuting the guilty is ideal, then the truth triumphs! For anything otherwise, the truth never dies, but our system only fails to bring the truth out!
The truth as we understand is not an absolute entity, since in the Universe nothing is absolute and all are perceived, understood and explained on relative measures only!
Understand this way and analyse everthing to acheive the TRUE results to get yourself TRULY satisfied!
2007-09-25 10:59:16 · answer #10 · answered by anjana 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋