Transcript The Case for Objective Truth

THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE
What is truth? John 18:39
I am Truth!!!
Truth is Inconvenient!
Truth is power
Truth is lost in translation!
Truth is out of style!
Truth
is
There is no truth!
stranger
than
The Truth is Within You fiction!
The Case for Truth:
“It is an old maxim of mine that when you have
excluded the impossible, whatever remains,
however improbable, must be the truth.”
~ Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Why is this
important?
• The issue of truth
is perhaps the
most foundational
issue to any
discussion in
apologetics,
worldview thinking,
and theology.
Consider the following quotes:
It is no truth that makes man great, but man who makes truth
great. ~ Confucius (c. 551-479 B.C).
The victor will never be asked if he told the truth.
~ Adolf Hitler.
Truth-what we think it is at any given moment of time.
~ Luigi Pirandello.
No man thoroughly understand a truth until he has
contended against it. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Consider the following quotes:
Why shouldn’t truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all,
has to make sense? ~ Mark Twain
The most striking contradiction of our civilization is the
fundamental reverence for truth which we profess and the
thorough-going disregard for it which we practice.
~ Vilhjalmur Stefansson.
Fraud and falsehood only dread examination. Truth
invites it. ~ Thomas Cooper (1759-1839).
“What is Truth?”
1.
A cynical denial of the possibility
knowing truth.
2.
A sneering jest at the idea of
saying something abstract; it’s
impractical for daily living.
3.
A question to engage in the
philosophical idea of truth.
4.
Earnest desire to know
what truth is.
of
Near the amphitheater in Caesarea a stone tablet was found with an inscription of
the name Pontius Pilate, dedicated to Tiberius Caesar who nominated him as
procurator. The tablet says: "Tiberieum, Pontius Pilatus, Prefect of Judea".
If objective truth is impossible…
1.
All reasoning becomes
impossible;
2.
Undercuts knowledge &
beliefs;
3.
Pointless to “give a reason
for the faith that is in you”;
4.
Leads to intellectual
superficiality, sensate
decadence, abuse of power,
cynicism & scorn, &
marketing manipulation
What does “objective” mean?
• What “objective” does not
mean:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Unemotional attitude;
Detached attitude;
Impersonal attitude;
Known by all;
Believed by all;
Exhaustive Certainty or
indubitability.
What does “objective” mean?
“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, or that it is
not, will say either what is
true or what is false”
~ Aristotle’s Metaphysics,
Book IV, 7 1011b1 26
What objective Truth Does Mean:
- It is independent of the knower & his/her consciousness.
- It is telling like it is; it is factual.
- It corresponds to reality or actuality,
- It identifies things the way they actually are.
- It is absolute and independent.
- It can never fail, diminish, change, or be extinguished.
What is the Truth?
• Here is my definition of truth:
Truth is that which corresponds to reality,
identifies things as they actually are, can
never fail, diminish, change, or be
extinguished, must be able to be expressed in
logical propositions (t+t = true), and is
sourced in the God of the Bible who is the
Author of all truth.
A Closer Look at the Use of
“Correspondence”
When I use the word
“correspondence” I am not
advocating the idea that
there is a correspondence
between our ideas or
mental images and things
in the real world.
A Closer Look at the Use of
“Correspondence”
Rather, I embrace an identity theory of truth. What this
means is that the very X that exists in the objective
world re-exists in the mind abstracted from material
things. Stated differently, a truth of a judgment consists
in the identity of its content with a fact. So, when I
look at an object I am not seeing a copy or picture of
the object in my mind, I am actually seeing the object.
Correspondence Theory of Truth: As held by philosophers like John
Locke, there is a correspondence between mental images and objects
in the real world.
The Idea
Correspondence
The Object itself
G
A
P
If true ideas are pictures, images, or copies of real objects, then what we have in our
mind and immediately know are only those pictures (not real forms). If so, then we can
never really know whether or not those pictures correspond to real objects. In other
words, how can we be sure whether the images are accurate likeness?
DIRECT REALISM: Mind-and-language independent world.
The Idea
DIRECT AWARENESS:
SELF-EVIDENT
The Object itself
Our foundational
beliefs rest upon direct
access to the real
world & objective truth
We see a thing for what it is; we have the capacity to recognize &
categorize.
From many observations we develop a concept of what that thing is.
We learn to associate a term with our awareness of the object by use of
senses
The object is indeed that kind of thing. We look to confirm what we had
already seen.
We each can compare the object that is given in our experience with our concept (thought) of that object to
determine if they correspond. Thus, we must pay very close attention to what is present before our minds in
experience. There is no need to have indubitability to accurately identify or know something.
3 Kinds of Knowledge:
1. Simple Seeing: Knowledge by acquaintance. Thus, I have a direct
awareness of object X:
– It is not limited to sense perception; we have conscience as well
(e.g., natural, moral law).
– Simple seeing comes before the formulation of a concept.
2. Seeing as: the formulation of a mental judgment. For example,
seeing “red” on an apple formulates a concept of redness. The
wording of something doesn’t deny what X is.
3. Seeing that: We have reasons for our belief; it is justified true
belief (eg., we are able to pick out a red apple from among other
colored apples).
Reality is undeniable
“You can’t know reality.”
“Is that a statement about reality?”
1. Truth is discovered, not invented:
For example, “I, Paul, feel
cold sitting under a fan on 8
September 2007.”
This may
appear
relative but it
is actually
absolutely
true for
everyone,
everywhere
that Paul had
the sensation
of coldness
on that day.
2. Truth is transcultural.
3. Truth is unchanging
though our beliefs about
truth change.
4. Beliefs cannot change a
fact not matter how
sincere someone is.
5. Truth is not affected by
the attitude of the one
professing it.
6. All truths are absolute
truths. Even truths that
appear relative are absolute
truths.
How do I know?
The Law of Non-Contradiction
Helps Us Discover What is False
Opposite ideas cannot both be true
at the same time and in the same sense.
The Earth is
Round
The Earth is
NOT Round
The Law of Non-Contradiction
They can’t
BOTH
Rev. Billy Graham –
God Exists!
be true!
Madalyn O’Hair –
God Does NOT Exist!
Objections to Objective Truth
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
There is no such thing as truth!
You can’t know truth!
All truth is relative!
It’s true for you but not for me!
No one has the truth!
All truth depends on your
perspective!
Your Greatest Tool in
Answering These Objections:
Apply the claim to itself!
Example . . .
Summary
The Truth About Truth
1. Contrary beliefs are possible,
but contrary truths are not
possible.
2. You can believe everything is
true, but everything can’t be true.
3. Objective truth can’t be denied
without being affirmed.
Everybody cares about the truth
in almost every area of life.
• Safety
• Money
• Medicine
• Warranties
• Relationships
So What?
If we can’t know truth as it is,
then we might find ourselves
in a bit of trouble!