Transcript MODULE_24 - (Epistemology) Truth6

Module 24
WHAT IS TRUTH? The Role of Evidence
©LDSEternalism.com
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WHAT IS TRUTH?
1: Misconceptions about Truth
2: Definition of Truth
3: Doors to Truth
4: False Standards (Informal Fallacies)
5: Scale of Evidence (Burden of Proof)
6: Tests of Truth (Validation)
7: Zeroing In On the Truth
8: Holy Ghost Revelator of Truth
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Two Distinct Questions
Mortimer J. Adler: “In the literature devoted to the consideration of
truth, there are two quite distinct questions that are often confused.
One is the question: What is truth? … The other is: By what means
or criteria can we determine whether this or that proposition is true
or false?” (Truth in Religion, p. 21)
WHAT IS TRUTH?
Definition
in Epistemology
IS IT TRUE?
Validation
in Metaphysics
(The Standard)
(The Test)
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PRIMACY OF REALITY
DEFINITION OF TRUTH = CORRESPONDENCE
D&C 93:24: “And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as
they were, and as they are to come.”
1. TRUTH IS … 2. KNOWLEDGE OF …
3. REALITY
PRIMACY OF CONSCIOUSNESS
DEFINITION OF TRUTH = SUBJECTIVE or UNKNOWABLE
If truth is either subjective or not knowable then how can they define truth?
1) PRAGMATIC DEFINITION OF TRUTH
2) COHERENCE DEFINITION OF TRUTH
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PRAGMATIC DEFINITION OF TRUTH
(Existential Definition of Truth)
“The Pragmatists declared that philosophy must be practical and
that practicality consists of dispensing with all absolute principles
and standards—that there is no such thing as objective reality or
permanent truth—that truth is that which works … and its validity
can be judged only by its consequences and whatever one wishes
to be true, is true, whatever one wishes to exist, does exist,
provided it works or makes one feel better. There are no fixed laws
of logic, only mutable ‘conventions,’ without any basis in reality.
…There is no objectivity—the object is created by the thought and
action of the subject.” (The Ayn Rand Lexicon, Pragmatism)
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I’ll try out my PRIMACY OF
CONSCIOUSNESS theory in
a game of “Russian Roulette”
and see if it is the TRUTH!
WARNING:
DO NOT TRY THIS
THE PRAGMATIC
THEORY OF TRUTH
AT WORK
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THE PRAGMATIC THEORY OF TRUTH AT WORK
Click = Truth!
WARNING:
DO NOT TRY THIS
Click = Truth!
Click = Truth!
Click = Truth!
Click = uh …
Boom!
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COHERENCE DEFINITION OF TRUTH
(coherence, not reality as the standard of truth)
BULL
BABY CALVES
COWS
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10
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6
4
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What Coheres or Harmonizes With Above Is
Truth and What Does Not Cohere Is False
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3
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What Coheres or Harmonizes With Below Is
Truth and What Does Not Cohere Is False
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ROOSTER
HENS
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BABY CHICKS
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BULL
DAIRY COWS
BABY CALVES
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4
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Coheres or Harmonizes
With Above
THE SCANDAL:
TWO OPPOSING TRUTHS
THAT
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SITTING CALVES
CHICKEN EGGS
BOTH COHERE?
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Coheres or Harmonizes
With Below
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ROOSTER
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6
2
1
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WHITE HENS
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BABY CHICKS
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Two Distinct Questions
WHAT IS TRUTH? … (definition)
— CORRESPONDENCE DEFINITION OF TRUTH —
1. TRUTH IS …
2. KNOWLEDGE OF … 3. REALITY
IS IT TRUE? … (validation)
1. PRAGMATIC TEST OF TRUTH … Practical Test
2. COHERENCE TEST OF TRUTH … Logical Test
3. REVELATORY TEST OF TRUTH … Confirmation Test
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Definition
Validation
PRAGMATIC TEST
OF TRUTH
Validation
Definition
Mortimer J. Adler: “The definition of truth as correspondence or
agreement of thought with reality does not immediately yield an
answer to the second question [What is True?] … if a true proposition
is one that accurately describes the way things really are, then if we
act upon it, our action should work successfully … This is the pragmatic
theory of how to determine whether our judgment about the truth of
a proposition is correct or not” (Truth in Religion, p. 22)
“As William James developed this so-called pragmatic theory of truth,
he recognized that underlying it was the ancient definition of truth as
the agreement of thought with reality.” (Truth in Religion, p. 22-23)
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Pragmatic Test of Truth
(Not a Standard, But a Legitimate Test)
John 7:17: “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the
doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.”
Malachi 3:10: “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that
there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith,
saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of
heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room
enough to receive it.”
Abraham 3:24-25: “… And we will prove them herewith, to see if
they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall
command them.”
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Coherence Test of Truth
(Not a Standard, But a Legitimate Test)
Mortimer J. Adler: “Coherence is an essential element in the logic
of truth … in the process of determining whether a particular
proposition is true or false … In the realm of all truths consisting of
propositions that can be affirmed or denied, incompatible truths
cannot coexist. All the diverse parts of knowledge, including
religious knowledge or knowledge by faith, must coherently form
one and only one integral whole … The test of coherence is
governed by the principle of incompatibility. If the human mind is
confronted with an incompatibility between its prior judgments
and a new judgment, it must seek intrinsic coherence or
compatibility by choosing between its earlier judgments and the
new one. (Truth in Religion, p. 23-24; 32; Adler’s Philosophical Dict. p. 192).
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Coherence Test of Truth
(Not a Standard, But a Legitimate Test)
Elder Charles W. Penrose: “There is no principle in our faith which contradicts
anything that can be demonstrated by known truth. Truth always harmonizes
with itself. And when a person grows in the knowledge of the truth and advances
to higher principles, he does not receive anything that contradicts any truth he
had previously learned, for truth is never discordant with itself. Truth is eternal;
truth, as we have been told this afternoon is indestructible and never contradicts
itself.” (JD 22:59)
Elder Charles C. Rich: “When we have learned one truth, we are prepared to
learn another; for every truth seems to unfold some other truth. When a matter
is presented to a person who has a knowledge of a great many truths let him
compare it with the many truths that he knows, and they will agree; for all truth
will agree … the more truths we are in possession of, the more keys we have to
test other truths by; and the longer we live in this way, the more we know of our
Father and the principles that pertain to his kingdom, and the less disposition we
will have to do wrong: we will be more inclined to do right, and to carry out the
principles of his government.” (JD 5:298)
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COHERENCE CHART (TESTS TRUTH)
ETERNAL LAWS
ETERNAL TRUTHS
Metaphysics
Epistemology
RESTORATION
Absolutism of Reality
(Primacy of Existence)
Reason
Mind
Faith
Heart
ETERNAL LIVES
Value Ethics
Life
Self
Good
Happiness
Love
Others
Right
Duty
Eternal Life, Joy
Correct Principles
Harmonize with Above
Reality
& Happiness
God
Aristotle
TEMPLATE
Plato
(Litmus Test)
A BIG error in the
beginning leads to a
MONSTROUS error
in the end.
God
Reality
APOSTASY
Absolutism of God
Faith
Heart
Reason
Mind
(Primacy of Consciousness)
False Principles
Harmonize with Below
Love
Others
Right
Duty
Life
Self
Good
Happiness
Metaphysics
Epistemology
Duty Ethics
Denies Law of Identity
Negative Theology
Greater the Contradiction
the Greater the Faith
Embraces a Morality
Impossible to Live
Everlasting Death,
Sorrow & Misery
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Revelatory Test of Truth
(Not a Standard, But a Legitimate Test)
MIND
HEART
D&C 8:2-3: “Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the
Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart.
Now, behold, this is the spirit of revelation.”
D&C 9:7-8: “Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would
give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me.
But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you
must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall
burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.
Moroni 10:4-5: “And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that
ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are
not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in
Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.”
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ONLY ONE DEFINITION OF TRUTH: CORRESPONDENCE
D&C 93:24: TRUTH IS … KNOWLEDGE OF … REALITY
BUT, 3 TESTS OF TRUTH:
1. PRAGMATIC TEST
That which works in reality passes this test.
2. COHERENCE TEST
That which coheres with other truths passes this test.
3. REVELATORY TEST
That which is confirmed by the Holy Ghost (Moroni 10:4-5)
passes this test.
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CORRESPONDENCE AND
THREE TESTS OF OBJECTIVE TRUTH
DEFINITION
THREE TESTS
WHAT IS TRUTH?
IS IT TRUE?
EPISTEMOLOGY
METAPHYSICS
ETERNAL LAWS
REALITY
Correspondence
ETERNAL TRUTHS
DISCOVERED NOT CREATED
BY THE MIND
PRAGMATIC
TEST of Truth
(Does it Work)
REALITY
What You
Think
Objective
Standard
of Truth
D&C 93:24
“And truth is knowledge of things
as they are, and as they were,
and as they are to come.”
COHERENCE
TEST of Truth
GOD
MIND
REASON
HEART
FAITH
(Non-Contradictory)
REVELATORY
TEST of Truth
(Confirmation)
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THREE TESTS OF OBJECTIVE TRUTH
Theological Proof
REVELATORY TEST
Restored
Gospel
(Moroni 10:4-5)
Man’s
Existence
Consciousness
Existential Proof
PRAGMATIC TEST
REALITY
800 lb Gorilla
Identity
Mind
Philosophical Proof
COHERENCE TEST
Principled Thinkers Are those who:
(1) Refuse to ignore the 800 lb Gorilla in the room
(2) Refuse to let down their Philosophical Guard
(3) Refuse to reject the light of the Restored Gospel
And therefore…
(4) Refuse to entertain any argument that requires
soul destroying, irrational, and unprincipled evasions.
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1 … Dual Meaning of Truth
5 … Scale of Evidence (Burden of Proof)
EPISTEMOLOGY
Possible
(Knowing … x is true)
Truth of Speech
Truth of Thought
(Telling the Truth)
(Knowing the Truth)
Probable
Certain
6 … Tests of Truth (Validation)
Pragmatic Test of Truth
2 … Definition of Truth
(Practical … if it WORKS)
CORRESPONDENCE THEORY
“Truth Is Knowledge of Reality”
Correspondence Test of Truth
(Logical … if it COHERES)
Reality
God
Revelatory Test of Truth
(Standard of Truth)
(Standard Bearer)
(Prophetic … if it’s CONFIRMED)
3 … Doors to Truth
TWO DOORS TO THE TEMPLE OF TRUTH
(Science and Religion)
Observation
Revelation
(Works of God / Creation)
(Word of God / Scripture)
4 … Informal Fallacies (False Standards)
Feelings
Popular Opinion
(Appeal to Emotions)
(Appeal to Popularity)
Expert Opinion
Scriptures
(Appeal to Authority)
(Appeal to Authority)
Prophets
God
(Appeal to Authority)
(Appeal to Authority)
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Questions?
Disagreements?
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