The Truth Quest

Is there objective truth, really? or Is it Just my truth (opinion)?

“Why does it matter that i talk about Truth?, Why does it matter if something is True or not?” I asked myself.

I’ll give an illustration that i heard somewhere. Imagine you enter a room and there, you see a table, on top of that table, there’s a widget. The widget has nothing written on it, you don’t know what it’s for. It looks like it can be used for different purposes like propping up a laptop, as a ‘door stopper’, etc. How would you determine use?…(you can tell me in the comments). Determining, it’s use would lead to determining it’s actual/intended purpose, which would in turn lead to maximum utility. Get it?

Somehow, talking about Truth became controversial but I’ve never shied away from controversy so let’s get into it.

This word, this 5-letter word! When i looked up its etymology, my head spun for a minute. In summary, it’s rooted in words meaning solid/ firm, promise/covenant/contract, fidelity/faith/honor/trustworthiness, and as a noun; it is defined as fact, genuine, and reality. It can be acquired through rationalism, intuition, experience, authority, and scientific method. So, can we and how can we know/test if a claim is True? Yes; Truth has certain features including correspondence to reality, coherence (not contradictory), pragmatic, universal, exclusive, and objective (not dependent).

Plainly, from the definition and features, the question if there is objective Truth is already answered. True? How then can we distinguish Objective truths from Subjective truths (subjective, normative and positive)? Objective truth is grounded in the object while subjective truth is grounded in the subject. For instance; i think flowers are beautiful- this is a subjective claim because it lies on me, the subject. Polio vaccine helps to prevent Polio-this is an objective claim because the Truth lies on the object, which is the vaccine whether you take it or not.

Please note that just as a claim can be objectively true, it can be objectively false. For example: Does God exist? God does exist- an objective claim. Could be true or false: But whatever the case, it depends on the object (I’ll say it this way for the sake of argument). Whether you believe it or not, it will not change God’s existence.

The thing about subjective claims, is that they are always subjective. For example, if someone claims that there’s no objective truth. Then the subsequent question should be, is that true? Is that your opinion or Truth?

I see a danger in not acknowledging objective truth but i understand why someone would take that door. That is, its implication on personal autonomy and morality. Human beings (me included, obviously) want to do whatever we want. And objective Truth is the first step towards Objective morality. I say people would gladly accept that objective truth exists but only to the extent it doesn’t infringe upon their autonomy.

Now, i have many opinions, is this just one of them 😁?

“To say of what is that it is not, or of what is not that it is, is false, while to say of what is that it is, and of what is not that it is not, is true”

-Aristotle