1.0.1 Existence of Truth: Epistemology Overview

Version 1.4 September 2019                                        (Previous Version)

First we consider the biggest question.  What is Truth?  Does it exist?  What is true?

The ideas of knowing “the truth� and using our “free will� to make life decisions are actually quite mysterious.  There are inescapable dilemmas involved in seeking the truth and making choices.

 ●  On the one hand, our thoughts, beliefs and values may be caused by the laws of nature or God (ie they happen according to God’s predetermined plan), OR they are not caused by nature or God, and can't be predicted from past events, which means they are random, or chaotic;

●   On the other hand, we all make choices as though we can choose the better option, as though we can discern at least some truth.  We all in fact do believe in the truth. 

Some profess to not believe in free will – the evidence does indeed support this disbelief – but still in practice they make choices as though they do believe in it.  Some redefine free will to mean ‘the complex processes by which we make choices’, accepting these are controlled by physical laws. Many choose to ignore the dilemmas and, without any justification, confidently choose one path.

We can only look at the issues, consider all the arguments, and make our choices.  Others can do the same yet make different choices, and they may persuade us to change our view.  Our beliefs change as our understanding increases, new evidence becomes available, or we gain new insights. 

There is in fact no universally accepted way to ground any of our beliefs on some universal truths.  So we participate in an ongoing conversation or dialogue with others, and within ourselves.

We look at how others have addressed the whole question of arriving at the truth.  Some say that:

·       Life, the universe and everything is essentially incomprehensible, or

·       To be rational we must ignore our emotions and only apply reason, or

·       Our ultimate questions of value depend on faith, and we depend on revelation not reason.

Unfortunately, we can find no ultimate, ‘transcendental’ truth that defines the universe.

We present a number of common sense principles, such as logic, coherence and Occam’s Razor, that we can use to choose among the alternatives.  We can't prove these techniques are “right� either, but they are the best we have, and we can use them to get closer and closer to the truth.

We are forced to accept some degree of uncertainty in our knowledge.  This doesn’t mean that we know nothing or that we must become paralyzed and unable to act.  It does mean there are limits to our understanding.  If we can't know the ultimate truth, we can only do our best, to learn as much as we can, to make the most appropriate decisions, because we have to act one way or the other. 

We work through the next level of detail on each of the above issues (more).  After considering this evidence, we’ve looked for a way to state our conclusions briefly, and we come to the following summary.

Is this the best way to state our conclusions in this area?  Click on feedback, or add a comment below, if you can improve the substance or the phrasing.

  more                                                              Statement 1

Choosing to seek the truth means it is one of our core values.  Choosing to accept the uncertainty of this choice means another core value is a diversity of informed opinion.  No-one can prove the conclusions they come to in this respect are correct, but we can justify our choices.

From our core values of diversity and equality (see section 1.0.5) we derive that we must treat those with different opinions with respect, and we must project humility in ourselves.