Essay on "Kuhn James Pierce Popper Descartes Al-Ghazali"

Essay 9 pages (3618 words) Sources: 1+ Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Truth?

One cannot simply define the meaning of truth because it is so ambiguous. The word "truth" differs greatly from a word like "apple" that has an immediate visual connotation, and is easily and unequivocally defined. "Truth" however, is an intangible and equivocal concept with inanimate and ineffable traits. So in order for one to define truth, one must first incontrovertibly accept that truth is not limited to one simple definition. Due to its ambiguity, truth has a versatility to it that can be applied in various scenarios rendering its meanings to be relative to context. Truth is a concept comprised of two fundamental facets; the universal truth, and the individual truth. Truth, then, is the only "current" possibility of view that is logically or empirically uncontested with absolute certainly -- something that, of course, does not exist since objectivity is an illusion in and of itself (Pojman, 2008)..

Additionally, we can also infer that there is no such thing as absolute truth since we are bound by our senses. It must be noted that a universal truth is also subjective because it is simply a unified truth contingent on the senses (which are subjective). Since truth is often subjective, it is therefore mutable and is thus subject to change. This ability to change creates a living paradox within the context of truth, because in essence there is no absolute truth in what is true when truth can contradict itself. Some have said that there is no certainty in life and. In essence. Without certainty there can be no absolute truth just universal and individual truth. Two contrasting views can both be true, and the contradictory truths are rectified by the fact that truth is subjective. Truth is relative to time, and once something has been invalidated it is no longer true. However, that falsification does not render the thought or concept to be untrue at the time that it was conceived. From the future point-of-view the belief is not true, but is that to say that at the time that the belief was uncontested it was not true. Certainly the concept of truth has been at the forefront of philosophical debate for centuries, and still remains one of the seminal questions under the rubric of philosophical inquiry (Gould, 2008). For the purposes of this essay, we will concentrate on the manner in which truth is defined in the argument of deductive vs. inductive certainty, specifically using the works of James, Pierce, Popper, Kuhn, Descartes, Al-Ghazali, Foucault, and Pinter.

Is truth relative? To Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn, the debate becomes one of scientific realism vs. antirealism. Scientific realism is a view that reflects the truth and helps humans explain or understand the world. Realism gives a better understanding of the world, because it makes the one more optimally aware. For example, the E = m * c2 equation - it focuses on the speed of light and its relations with m and c. It provides knowledge about the real world, and is tangibly usable. Such scientific equations and theories give something real (true) about the universe, imparting reality. Furthermore, according to realism, science displays a process of discovery -- all things exist and are discoverable that have not been realized prior. Therefore, science is objective; as science only uncovers reality.

Karl Popper, a realist, tells us that there is progress in science. Popper says that this scientific process is cumulative, and by that process the people can reach the neutral truth. Realists believe that progress in science is motion toward a more accurate representation of the workings of nature. Popper uses the method of falsification, thus improving theoretical knowledge of truth. Falsification is not a way to reject the original; instead it is for developing and improving the theory itself, it is the evaluation of the theory which becomes form -- or truth. According to Popper, for instance, Newton's theory is the more cogent "truth" because it is more universal and contains more information. Einstein, on the other hand, is useful regarding higher velocities, light, etc., and becomes true less in the universal and more in the situation (Popper, 2002).

White Karl Popper's method is deductive, Thomas Kuhn as an anti-realist believes that science does not supply correct, or truthful, information about the real world, and therefore one cannot understand the universe through the sets of statement that comprise the tool of science. In fact, there is no single truth; science sees a partial truth, uncovered only as humans are able to comprehend that knowledge. Each individual, though, creates their own tools to understand the universe, and to give it a private, personal, and variable content. Thus, science is individualistic, dependent upon non-epistemological factors, and quite subjective. Using a similar example, Kuhn, the language used in Newton and Einstein's theories do not come close to representing the same thing, so they are completely incompatible (Kuhn, 2002).

Kuhn rejects progress in science and the method of falsification. To Kuhn, science is made up of paradigms (instead of smooth developments), and scientific communities gathers around those paradigms. He denies scientific progress and claims that science has breaks, opposing the continuity ideas of realists and Popper. For Kuhn, as well, there is not a single truth, or ultimate goal, but differing -- dependent views, that are not cumulative, but remain valid for that individual and point in time. If two "truths" are unmeasurable, they become falsehoods and incompatible (Ibid).

William James, in his work "The Varieties of Religious Experience," argued that there is no validity in the claim of rationalism to assert the existence of only one consciousness (truth). He based this on the notion that humans perceive reality through the senses, and that the human intellect arises only after the individual believes an experience (or truth, again), exists. James attempted to expand his argument through objectively drawing factual evidence from what he referred to as a "mystical state of consciousness," in order to bring about a broader realm of truth outside of rationalism. Through logic, James concluded that there were three statements of authority: 1) that mystical states have authority over those individuals having the experience, 2) that no authority could come from the mystical experience of the individual, and 3) that the mystical state shattered any rationalistic claim that held objectivity to be the sole revealer of truth.

The first statement of authority is founded upon the cornerstone that the humans gather facts through senses. James stated that rational and mystical beliefs are based upon "evidence exactly similar in nature." Thus, logic would permit James to find that facts gathered through objective means have no authority over the facts gathered from mystical means. James stated that the most an individual can ask of a rationalist is to see his faithful assumption. In this latter statement James supported his second main point of authority, that there is no requirement for the rationalist to accept the individual's personal testimony of the mystical experience as factual, for faith is based not on fact, but on experience. Ruling out the individual's assumption as a logical means, James turned to the argument of "appealing to numbers," showing that there does not necessarily have to be a logical foundation beneath majority thought (Richardson, 2007).

James asserted that the mystical state shattered the rationalistic claim to be the only consciousness humanity possessed. The reason for the option to lay claim to a consciousness beyond the non-mystical was based on the commonality of the lack of authority that both beliefs shared. James asserted that due to both schools of thought perceiving through the senses, there was not a higher ground to hold authority over one another. Thus, the search for truth remains unending as James took the first step in approaching the human perception of truth. He did not, however, include the human intellect as a major factor in his approach. He stated that once again, one perceived truth first through the senses, calling it a draw between mystical findings and non-mystical findings, without regard for the intellectual process. It is the very contradiction between the conscious truth and the unconscious idea that form the basis of James' view- categorizing ideas and placing them into codified, but organized, "experience" (Ibid).

It is quite often said that Pontius Pilate, the man who asked: "what is truth," never stayed for an answer. And no wonder -- for there has been no definitive "answer" to Pilate. Charles Pierce, for example, developed pragmatism, and claimed "Belief is what we accept as truth."

In order to understand what the "acceptance of truth" means, we first must look at another definition of truth. Today truth is mostly regarded to as a statement that accurately tells a state of affairs. Then we must consider how close the language, and state of mind, is to the universal truth. A different view is then provided by the pragmatists who claim that truth is but a claim providing a solution to a problem, and, according the… READ MORE

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