From making up certain kinds of philosophies or a world based on science to the development of a formal argument or a simple conversation, we have to allocate all of the basic foundations to the very grounds of facts or the so-called truths but, what are these truths & can we find them as we find the grammatical words or are they some hidden codes that are too complex to even stretch?
We are going to look upon such questions along with their satisfying answers up to our understanding so, that we might get an insight of the nature of the truth behind all the established truths!
As we are going to look more deeply into the concept of truth & the related disciplines that have come to support such ideas, we have to start our approach simply by asking about its definition. We can define the word ‘truth’ as the relation with the reality or the factual world & that there is something out there that is true, accurate & certain in nature upon which our brains process as well as the world works. Now, where these truths are, is a matter of question but, they are there unchangeable & that they are the drivers of the whole matter of the universe from regulating the physical laws to the human behaviours.
As we have tried to explain the concept of truths, we can say here that the main question about their existence is whether they are objectively present or are they subjectively perceivable? There are many people, here we are talking about the people such as the philosophers, who would go for the support of the fact that truths are objective & there is surely an ultimate reality behind everything that has to be discovered & yet there are others who would argue that this subject is a matter of subjectivism as all other disciplines are & they doubt about their positions & roles in different circumstances. Although, their common goal was that by understanding such concepts, they will get closer to the concept of knowledge or ‘epistemology’; the basics of the wisdom.
When we analyse the notion of truth from our daily lives or even into the historical periods of human beings, we come across with a common conclusion that there are many forms of truths because they are subject to the human understanding & they have the ability to categorise them into certain categories. For instance, there are certain truths that are true & applicable in particular circumstances & times (contingent). Another example is of the truths that have the ability of getting applied in practical & useful terms otherwise they are not going to fit into such category (pragmatic). Also, there is another type of truth that is concerned with the logical as well as mathematical nature of understanding (coherent). And above all, there is an absolute or an ultimate truth, from which other truths originate & get supported along.
Now, lets us try to face some problems regarding the use of this powerful concept to the whole. From the start, people started to give certain meanings to their personal experiences, thoughts & perceptions about the objective world & its content which has also resulted into the formation of the language. And on this language field, we are actually playing & trying to achieve the highest goals of the truth & knowledge but, the way to this is not that simple as to say. Because, there are a lot of languages now-a-days, & certain things have different meanings in different languages. Furthermore, what if the ingredients of a language are biased by humans’ own motivations & understanding about the world that were immature as their ideas were continuously evolving?
Another problem we have is the concept of interpretation. Suppose, when a painter paints a picture, he chooses a subject that is not outside of human society & world, blend it with his own experiences & understanding & presents his masterpiece in a way that is relevant & truthful to others. The painter, in this example, is actually making an interpretation about the surroundings & facts around him & this is a representation of the reality, not the reality itself. In the same manner, all the truths or facts that have been established so far are mere representations of the reality & can be understood with different perspectives & meaning.
Another thing which we can consider is the concept of ‘common sense’. There are many who agree that there are a lot of the apparent phenomena or the basic laws, that without which we can’t operate or imagine anything. For example, the common sense says that without air (oxygen), no creature can seem to survive but, recently we have gathered further evidences that there are several organisms which don’t require oxygen at all (anaerobic organisms). Common sense also fail to show support for many of the spiritual as well as the philosophical states such as the ‘free will’ etc. & thus, the common sense differs for different perspectives as well.
And on such weak foundations, we have developed our so-called truths or conclusions that have been incorporated strongly in us by us. What might be a truth is a matter of one’s circumstances & shouldn’t be comparable to the truths of others as everyone is different & experiences the world differently. For instance, it would be good & true to kill someone as self-defence & yet the possibility of negotiation might be more truthful to someone else. Now, the real question has arisen & that is: can we seek the truth or reality by using the existing truths or interpretations? The answer is ambiguous but, the main support (mine as well) would surely go with the impossibility of achieving such a task.
According to the above explanation as well as the examples, we are sure that the way to truth is very uncertain & in trying to avail the opportunity of seeking it, we absorb the existing materials & create a new knowledge or a sense that will be added to the huge box of the so-called illusions. The challenge here can be to form a new unbiased language that is logically supported & to modify all the systems that are currently available to humans in order to achieve higher states of creativity, truth & the purpose of life!
To conclude the above discussion, we may say that different people look differently to the atmosphere around them & become associated with the truths that are supportive in their regards but, to clearly seek a pure form of certain truths or concepts, one must start from the feeble premises to the plausible conclusions.
(References can be provided upon request!)
Written & Conceptualised by Junaid Jabbar
