How do we know there is such a thing as an objective truth?

Question

Surely the belief in an objective truth requires the same blind faith as it does to believe in God?

Scientific theories change all the time and often drastically: e.g. Thinking the world was flat, or that the Earth was at the centre of the solar system. At the time these were solid facts and wern't generally questioned. How do we know what we believe now is true? and how do we know that there is even an objective truth?

Well turns out no one gets best answer cuz i read this first: http://atheism.about.com/od/philosophyepistemology/a/ObjectiveTruth.htm

Answer 1

lalalalalalalaallalalallala

Answer 2

The two facts you cite eventually came into conflict with observations made by other scientists, which, in turn, led to a re-investigation of the soundness of those prior conclusions. More rigorous scientific inquiry led to the conclusion that the earth was not flat and that the Earth was not at the center of the known solar system. I fail to see how this casts doubt upon utilizing the scientific method to reach conclusions or truth, as you put it, non-subjectively.

We believe what we know is true until such time as there is better evidence that it is not true. That's what we do all our lives whether you care to acknowledge it or not, and we carry on quite well even though it's true that our knowledge of things changes frequently.

Our belief in the scientific method is based upon our experience that it produces conclusions upon which we can rely more rationally than any other method. It is not now, nor has it ever been, a guarantee of conclusive truth. Which is why it is inappropriate to compare belief in the scientific method to belief in an organized religion that purports to offer conclusive truths. You are unwittingly comparing oranges to apples. Or worse, you are deliberately offering a false comparison and suggesting that one undermines the other when it actually does no such thing.

Answer 3

This is more easily understandable if one considers the actual scale of the components of an atom. If one takes into account the fact that the neutrons, protons and electrons of an atom actually have huge spaces between them it becomes clear that the atoms that make up seemingly solid objects are made up of 99+ percent empty space.

This alone does not seem too important till you add the idea that the atoms that make up seemingly solid objects are more of a loose conglomeration that share a similar attraction but never really touch each other.

At first glance this does not really seem relevant, but closer analysis reveals that this adds a tremendous amount of empty space to solid objects that are already made up of atoms that are 99 percent space. When so-called solid objects are seen in this light it becomes apparent that they can in no way be the seemingly solid objects they appear to be.

We ourselves are not exceptions to this phenomenon.

These seemingly solid objects are more like ghostly images that we interpret as solid objects based on our perceptual conclusions.

From this we must conclude that Perception is some sort of a trick that helps us to take these ghostly images and turn them into a world we can associate and interact with. This clever device seems to be a creation of our intellect that enables us to interact with each other in what appears to be a three dimensional reality.

I hope that helps to answered your question.

Love and blessings Don

Answer 4

I don't believe in objective truth. For any one person to know the objective truth, they'd have to be completely without bias, and since no people are biasless, and there is no one to tell us what the objective truth is, there is no reason to believe it exists.

Reality is in the mind. Everything we are, everything we're made of affects how we think. Our very biochemistry makes truth impossible. There is nothing to rely on except memory, and memory is fallible. How do you know I'm really typing this? You trust in your mind. But what if you're mad, and this is a figment of your imagination? How would you know, when everything you are is telling you that this is here, yet you know that these signals are not incorruptible? How will you know, in 10 minutes, that I have written this? You will have to rely on memory, and memory is fallible.

Furthermore, we are not omnipotent. There is always something we don't know, and since we don't know what it is we don't know, if you follow me, we can't understand how this can fit in to our own view of reality. Your example is an excellent one. Reality changes constantly to fit with new ideas. And since new ideas are infinite, we can never know the full truth. And since for something to exist, it must be observed, the full truth therefore doesn't exist.

Answer 5

We can't.

By truth we mean the way the world is. There can be only one way the world is, so there is only one truth. Unfortunately, we cannot know that what we believe is true is true. A lot of people claim to know the truth by faith, but faith is only willfully held belief. Willing things so doesn't make them so - if it did, all religions would be true.

Answer 6

If I say my dog weighs 25 lbs. that is objectively true. 2+2=4 is the same way. Some things are subjective, but there is objective truth.

Answer 7

Most of the population I think believes ANYTHING if its sounds real enough, if ENOUGH important looking/sounding people back up the claim people are pretty docile in this world and will pretty much swallow anything you give them.
But..

I hear a ruhmor that there are.. a group of free thinkers, that actually QUESTION the things placed in front of them by the mass media and the internet...

I know, it sounds.. kind of strange but I swear.. I used to know this woman who used to do just that.. -looks around- but keep this quiet.. you never know who might be watching..

-grins-

Answer 8

How do we know there is such a thing as an objective truth?

The simple answer is that we do not.

Answer 9

That which fits our objective definitions becomes our objective truth. But we define what we speak or think about and thereby define our existence objectively.

Answer 10

there is no such thing as an objective thuth. reality is as you and i as an individual percieve it. and each and everyone of us do perceive reallity differently and at diffirent times. maybe what you think is real but may all be only in your mind . or what i am typing may be only in my mind as i may be i a comma and believe it is real --who knows

Answer 11

Objective truth: I exist.
...Or do I?