Truth, Epistemology, and Purpose

[Chany]

In this thread, I would like to ask three questions. I will build upon these questions to illustrate a point about epistemology and the nature of truth.

1. What is truth?

2. How can I discover and understand truth, whatever that may be?

3. Why should I care? In other words, why should I care about what truth is and how to find it?

I will answer these questions when I get more time. I wanted to have other answers to add to the discussion, rather than just a thread where I reveal my viewpoint and people simply try to trip me up.

 

[PsychoSarah]

In this thread, I would like to ask three questions. I will build upon these questions to illustrate a point about epistemology and the nature of truth.

1. What is truth?

2. How can I discover and understand truth, whatever that may be?

3. Why should I care? In other words, why should I care about what truth is and how to find it?

I will answer these questions when I get more time. I wanted to have other answers to add to the discussion, rather than just a thread where I reveal my viewpoint and people simply try to trip me up.

1. Truth, in practice, is what a person perceives reality to be. Hence why someone can tell the truth without necessarily being correct in regards to reality, which to me is something a bit different than truth. Reality is what everything is, and truth is how we perceive that limited amount of reality we can manage to expose ourselves to. There are many forms of truth, but only one reality.

2. Well, some self reflection can help in that regard, the more aware you are of your biases, tendencies, flaws, and strengths, the easier it is to conceptualize what you view as the truth and why. Hopefully, it will also help to make what you perceive as true closer to matching reality.

3. You should care because it influences how you view day to day experiences and make choices.

 

[True Scotsman]

1. Truth, in practice, is what a person perceives reality to be. Hence why someone can tell the truth without necessarily being correct in regards to reality, which to me is something a bit different than truth. Reality is what everything is, and truth is how we perceive that limited amount of reality we can manage to expose ourselves to. There are many forms of truth, but only one reality.

2. Well, some self reflection can help in that regard, the more aware you are of your biases, tendencies, flaws, and strengths, the easier it is to conceptualize what you view as the truth and why. Hopefully, it will also help to make what you perceive as true closer to matching reality.

3. You should care because it influences how you view day to day experiences and make choices.

Truth is the facts of reality.

Truth is discovered by direct observation and inference. It is validated by the process of logic.

The truth is a long range requirement for life on Earth. You won't get very far in life by evading reality.

 

[lesliedellow]

In this thread, I would like to ask three questions. I will build upon these questions to illustrate a point about epistemology and the nature of truth.

1. What is truth?

2. How can I discover and understand truth, whatever that may be?

3. Why should I care? In other words, why should I care about what truth is and how to find it?

I will answer these questions when I get more time. I wanted to have other answers to add to the discussion, rather than just a thread where I reveal my viewpoint and people simply try to trip me up.

1.) Almost impossible to define. It frequently means a statement which has so far proved to be an accurate predictor of what will be observed, but the truth that 2+2=4 is not of that type, and the truth that Winston Churchill was British Prime Minister in 1940 is not of that type.

2.) Either inductively from evidences, deductively from something regarded as axiomatic, happy guesses, which turn out to be correct, or some combination of all three.

3.) I cannot say that I do greatly care whether or not a teapot is orbiting the sun. I care more about whether the weather forecast is correct, and I care still more about whether or not it is true that the Sun will rise tomorrow.

 

[essentialsaltes]

1. What is truth?

We say a statement is true if it is in accordance with reality.

2. How can I discover and understand truth, whatever that may be?

Tough question. Subjective truths can be found by introspection. "I believe Beethoven is a better composer than Bach." This statement is true, because I know my own mind. Other people may have a different true belief. Neither of these true beliefs have anything to do with whether Beethoven actually is or isn't a better composer than Bach. And in fact, there simply is no truth of the matter there. Reality does not decide matters of aesthetics.

Mathematical or logical proofs depend on accepting the axioms and using the rules correctly.

Objective truths can be found in several ways.

By definition or consensus. Bachelors are unmarried men. Albany is the capital of New York State.

And finally, the scientific method is a good, but not perfect, way to uncover objective truths about the universe.

3. Why should I care? In other words, why should I care about what truth is and how to find it?

You can either live your life in accordance with reality (or as best you can), or you can live in delusion. If you don't care, you would live in willful delusion. If you can't see the folly of that, I can't help you.

 

[Eudaimonist]

1. What is truth?

Some reasonably accurate cognition of reality. If the Earth is round and you believe that the Earth is round, you have a truth.

2. How can I discover and understand truth, whatever that may be?

To make a long story short, you need to use reasoning skills on some sort of data you've collected about reality, such as through observation.

3. Why should I care? In other words, why should I care about what truth is and how to find it?

You may simply be curious. However, you as a human being have needs that may require truth-finding in order to satisfy. That need may simply be maintaining your sanity.


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[Colter]

In this thread, I would like to ask three questions. I will build upon these questions to illustrate a point about epistemology and the nature of truth.

1. What is truth?

2. How can I discover and understand truth, whatever that may be?

3. Why should I care? In other words, why should I care about what truth is and how to find it?

I will answer these questions when I get more time. I wanted to have other answers to add to the discussion, rather than just a thread where I reveal my viewpoint and people simply try to trip me up.

1) What is truth?

* Truth is always revelation, it is a spirit-discerned, living reality. Attempts to define truth in absolute terms kills living truth.

* Living truth is dynamic, it can enjoy only an experiential existence in the human mind.

* Truth exists in the realm of the spiritually endowed intellect that is conscious of knowing the presence of God.

* "Truth is a spiritual reality value experienced only by spirit-endowed beings who function upon supermaterial levels of universe consciousness, and who, after the realization of truth, permit its spirit of activation to live and reign within their souls." UB 1955

* "Truth is inconcussible — forever exempt from all transient vicissitudes, albeit never dead and formal, always vibrant and adaptable — radiantly alive. But when truth becomes linked with fact, then both time and space condition its meanings and correlate its values. Such realities of truth wedded to fact become concepts and are accordingly relegated to the domain of relative cosmic realities." UB 1955


2) How can I discover and understand truth, whatever that may be?

Search for it with a sincere, honest heart and an open mind.

3) 3. Why should I care? In other words, why should I care about what truth is and how to find it?

Because the search for truth, for God, is the meaning and purpose of life. It's only if you don't want to find God, or ultimate meaning, or have life eternal, that you would reject participation in the search, which is the plan.

 

[juvenissun]

In this thread, I would like to ask three questions. I will build upon these questions to illustrate a point about epistemology and the nature of truth.

1. What is truth?

2. How can I discover and understand truth, whatever that may be?

3. Why should I care? In other words, why should I care about what truth is and how to find it?

I will answer these questions when I get more time. I wanted to have other answers to add to the discussion, rather than just a thread where I reveal my viewpoint and people simply try to trip me up.

The reason you have these questions is because no answers can be found in humanism. Or, you may say that hundreds of answers are all valid at the same time.

In the realms of religion, these questions are usually answered in chapter 1. And there are may be additional 10 chapters built upon the answer.

 

[Eudaimonist]

The reason you have these questions is because no answers can be found in humanism. Or, you may say that hundreds of answers are all valid at the same time.

What are you basing that on?

In the realms of religion, these questions are usually answered in chapter 1. And there are may be additional 10 chapters built upon the answer.

What are you basing that on?


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[GrowingSmaller]

Truth is either disclosure (alethea) as in perceptual disclosure - the "unveiledness" of the world. Or correspondence between statement and fact, or belief and fact.

We know the truth either through perceptual or propositional knowledge. That is through though fallible sensible intuition, or through justifid beliefs. Also perhaps emotions and gut feelings.

You should care because you cant escape caring, and are "thrust into your care" by fate, God, evolution etc. The term you use, "why should I care", implies you think in terms of oughts, and that reflects the fact that there are better and worse choices in the evauative / quality of life aspect of reality. So you should care because some things are better for you like avoiding harm, and this us unavoidable for normal people. You are designed to care and this has implicaitons.

This all fits together with a scientific outlook, in that evolution had designed us to look out for ourselves in terms of life meanings or "oughts" - basically to evaluate actions and to live out better and worse consequences - and these, and associated learning in turn, help us survive.

So the "truth of Being" (unveiled human reality as either "A is A" or "A is Not-not-A") has an evaluative aspect, and "care for the value of being" or "rational attraction to being" is my view of out ethical purpose, or destiny. Which is achieved by life serving behavior, including understanding ourselves and the world we live in through propositional knowledge!

All the above is mainly secular philosophy...

 

[Eight Foot Manchild]

The reason you have these questions is because no answers can be found in humanism.

Humanism is not an epistemology in and of itself, so that's hardly surprising.

In the realms of religion, these questions are usually answered in chapter 1.

No they aren't. Religions can't even claim to have a coherent epistemology, let alone a single piece of information gleaned from this.

All religions can do is nakedly assert a possession of 'truth', which none of them have ever substantiated.

 

[Eight Foot Manchild]

1. What is truth?

An accurate apprehension of a fact or set of facts about reality.

2. How can I discover and understand truth, whatever that may be?

Observation, corroboration, experimentation and logic. There may be other means, but these are the best tools we have at the moment.

3. Why should I care?

Because delusions are demonstrably harmful.

 

[Gottservant]

Truth, is between belief and promise. (selah)

 

[juvenissun]

Humanism is not an epistemology in and of itself, so that's hardly surprising.



No they aren't. Religions can't even claim to have a coherent epistemology, let alone a single piece of information gleaned from this.

All religions can do is nakedly assert a possession of 'truth', which none of them have ever substantiated.

A religious truth is 100% consistent within the religion.
Any humanistic truth is 100% debatable on any of its version among humanists.

If anyone wished to find a consistent truth, religion is the only place to go. Otherwise, you have your truth and I have mine.

Note: An exception may be some place like the North Korea. At least, there is an official truth there. Well, it is close to a religion, in fact. It is a type of truth limited by geographic boundary.

 

[Eight Foot Manchild]

A religious truth is 100% consistent within the religion.
Any humanistic truth is 100% debatable on any of its version among humanists.

You just said the exact same thing twice - that 'truth' is internally consistent among people who believe identically. Not exactly profound.

Also irrelevant, since we're talking about external consistency.

If anyone wished to find a consistent truth, religion is the only place to go.

Religion has not demonstrated its claims to 'truth', nor does it even possess an epistemological model by which to make sense of its own vacuous assertions.

 

[quatona]

In this thread, I would like to ask three questions. I will build upon these questions to illustrate a point about epistemology and the nature of truth.

1. What is truth?

The term is used for a couple of very different concepts. Since you seem to head for epistemology, I would answer:
We call a concept "true" if it proves accurate within the the frame of reference (or context) it is explicitly or implicitly made in. The last part is extremely important, in my opinion, and very often ignored. Traditional philosophy often attempts to and takes pride in removing all contexts and frames of reference - which I think is impossible.

2. How can I discover and understand truth, whatever that may be?

The frame of reference should provide methods of falsification or verification. If it doesn´t we can and should ignore it, epistemologically.

3. Why should I care? In other words, why should I care about what truth is and how to find it?

I care about truth only when it is useful which - in my experience - is very often the case.

 

[Eudaimonist]

A religious truth is 100% consistent within the religion.
Any humanistic truth is 100% debatable on any of its version among humanists.

Religion is just as debatable. Consider the variety of end-times models even just in Christianity. In CF's settings alone we find the options:

Historic
Preterist
Futurist
Amillennialism
Premillennialism
Postmillennialism
Pretribulation
Midtribulation
Posttribulation

Which one is true? You'll find some Christians taking any of those positions.

That doesn't mean that all of the positions are true. It simply means that there is disagreement.


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[juvenissun]

Religion is just as debatable. Consider the variety of end-times models even just in Christianity. In CF's settings alone we find the options:

I never say some contents of a religion are not debatable.
I said that some contents of a religion are the truth in that religion, and are not debatable.

In humanism, EVERYTHING is debatable. That is not good.

 

[juvenissun]

You just said the exact same thing twice - that 'truth' is internally consistent among people who believe identically. Not exactly profound.

Also irrelevant, since we're talking about external consistency.



Religion has not demonstrated its claims to 'truth', nor does it even possess an epistemological model by which to make sense of its own vacuous assertions.

Very ignorant about religion. That is what an atheist should be.

 

[juvenissun]

In this thread, I would like to ask three questions. I will build upon these questions to illustrate a point about epistemology and the nature of truth.

1. What is truth?

2. How can I discover and understand truth, whatever that may be?

3. Why should I care? In other words, why should I care about what truth is and how to find it?

I will answer these questions when I get more time. I wanted to have other answers to add to the discussion, rather than just a thread where I reveal my viewpoint and people simply try to trip me up.

I am not sure you are still with this thread which you created. I told you that there is no truth agreeable to everyone. But if you like to hear some truth recognized by (every) Christians, I (as well as other Christians) do can tell you some, or many.

In case you like to hear some truth of Buddhism or Daoism, I may also tell you some.

Or, from the view of humanism, if you tell me one thing called truth, I can argue that it is not a truth, from a humanistic point of view.