T H E A N S W E R A N D I T S E F F E C T S O N O U R T H I N K I N G

WHAT IS TRUTH?

WHERE DO WE START?

• To answer the question, “What is truth?” means we have to arrive at a definition of truth• Is that even possible?

• This is a question with which philosophers have wrestled for many long years; what hope do we have of coming to an answer?• The “truth” implies that there is “right” and “wrong,” which

to some degree points to the branch of philosophy called “ethics”

• Ethics teaches us how to ask “moral” questions

• Let us come to some “ground rules” whereby we can operate together as “truth seekers” in this class

• Philosophy, or the “love of wisdom,” is not usually considered to be the highest paying job on the market• But what can we learn

from a contemporary philosopher whose work at Google shapes important questions, the answers for which affect our own lives?

GREEK PHILOSOPHERSSOCRATES

ANTISTHENESCHRYSIPPUSEPICURUS

THE ROLE OF PHILOSOPHY

HOW DO WE DETERMINE RIGHT AND WRONG?

• http://www.ted.com/talks/damon_horowitz_philosophy_in_prison.html• http://www.ted.com/talks/damon_horowitz.html

SHIFTING GEARSWHAT SYSTEMS TEACH US RIGHT FROM WRONG?

THE ROLE OF RELIGIOUS LIFE

• Religious systems exist to help mankind wrestle with and solve questions of right and wrong• They contain much human wisdom, but none perfectly

describes “the truth”• These systems are often contradictory, which is why you

find the world struggling through “religious wars”• Yet, the best of what religious systems has to offer has

brought meaning, stability, and a lot of human progress over the centuries

• It is my opinion that science, as an enterprise, is a religious system• But that is a subject for another day

S O M E C O N T RA S T I N G P E R S P E C T I V E S

WESTERN VS EASTERN THINKING

S O M E C O N T RA S T I N G P E R S P E C T I V E S

ANOTHER VIEW

ANOTHER WAY TO SLICE THE PIE

Greek mind

• Time is linear• Man can know the

truth through his rational abilities

• Man is capable of solving the world’s problems

• All religious paths lead to spiritual enlightenment

Hebrew mind

• Time is cyclical• Man is completely

dependent on God, even if he does not acknowledge this dependence• Only God can

determine what is finally good and true

FASHION PERSPECTIVES

OUR PERSPECTIVE

• For the purpose of this course, you should understand that it presents a perspective that is essentially derived from Western culture, and that it is not the whole picture• When you get to college, you will encounter a

variety of perspectives from which people view the world• A common point of view is that “everyone creates their

own truth,” which is also called “moral relativism”

OUR PERSPECTIVE (CONT.)

• It is important to know “where people are coming from,” so you can understand their point of view and evaluate the quality of the “truth” they believe as it relates to your own personal convictions and conscience• Understanding different perspectives helps you

understand audience (people), context (ideas), and various rhetorical situations• This is why I am asking you to examine your

thinking, and your own perspectives – so you can understand where you “fit in” when you leave

IF EVERYONE CREATES THEIR OWN TRUTH…

… then there are no “right answers”

• What are the implications for such a position?• Everyone is right, and no one is wrong (“My answers

can’t be wrong, professor. They’re my truth!”)• Everyone’s perception and memory work flawlessly, with

no blunders, glitches, or gaffes• No one adopts other people’s truths, because truth is

personal, individual, and unique

WHERE DOES IT ALL BEGIN?

• Early childhood experience, in which we are told about the world before we actually experience it, fills us with preconceptions about how the world works• Unless education makes us

acutely aware of these preconceptions, our process of perception is deeply influenced by these early teachings

WHERE DOES IT ALL BEGIN? (CONT.)

• “Seeing is believing” is as true as “Believing is seeing” – we all look through “filters”• What we regard as our unique perspective bears

the imprint of other people’s ideas and beliefs

SPEED BUMPS TO GETTING AT THE TRUTH

• We all are capable of perceiving reality imperfectly• We all are capable of demonstrating imperfect

memory• We are all susceptible to making decisions with

deficient information• Even the wisest among us makes mistakes

IMPERFECT PERCEPTION

• Perception is not flawless, and is influenced by our desires, interests, and expectations• We think we remember a “fact” from a textbook, make it

our exam answer, and later find out we had not correctly recalled the fact, thus our answer is marked wrong

• Instant replay often shows us our initial cry of “bad call!” was actually an erroneous perception

• Perception is often mingled with interpretation – the expectation that an event will unfold in a certain way, which can color our perception of the way the event actually unfolds

• Distractions, powerful emotions, loyalty, and affection also color our perception

IMPERFECT MEMORY

• We forget details and often resort to imagination to ‘fill in the blanks’• When we retell a

story, we embellish to make ourselves look better or say something we thought of later that we wish we would have said

Salvador DaliThe Persistence of Memory, 1931

IMPERFECT MEMORY

• Memory is vulnerable to contamination from outside the mind - experiments• Did you see a bear? (there

was no bear)• The difference in perception

of an accident when the words “hit” and “smash” are used

• Adding “fake” events to a description of an event can cause people to “remember” the fake events as true

Salvador DaliThe Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory, 1954

DEFICIENT INFORMATION

• The quality of our beliefs rests heavily on the quality of information that backs them up• The problem of misinformation – wrong directions, bad

advice – is all the worse when it occurs in complex matters like interpreting the law, making medical decisions, governing citizens, and religious life

• Not everything on the Internet is true!

• Even “experts” who devote their whole lives to a subject cannot know everything about their subject, because of the age in which we live and its associated knowledge “explosion”

EVEN THE WISEST CAN ERR

• So far we’ve established that people can be mistaken in what they perceive and remember and that the information they receive can be faulty or incomplete• These matters concern individuals; what happens

when group judgment goes awry?• All too often, what is taken as truth one day by

the most respected minds proves erroneous the next• Galileo, Copernicus, and other paradigm shifts• A whole host of others in your textbook

TRUTH IS DISCOVERED, NOT CREATED

• Review• Ideas and beliefs are unavoidably influenced by other

people’s ideas and beliefs, particularly in childhood• Perception and memory are imperfect (Dali’s paintings)• Information can be inaccurate or incomplete• Some people’s thinking skills are ineffectively used or

“woefully meager”

• What then is the most reasonable view of truth?• The truth about something is what is so about it, the facts

in their exact arrangement and proportions• Our beliefs and assertions are true when they correspond

to that reality, and false when they do not

TRUTH IS DISCOVERED, NOT CREATED (CONT.)

• Did time run out before the basketball player got the shot off? • How does gravity work? • Who stole your hubcaps? • Are there time/space limits to the universe? • Who started the argument between you and your

neighbor last weekend? • Have you been working up to your potential in

this course?• To look for the truth in such matters is to look for the

answer that fits the facts, the correct answer

TRUTH IS DISCOVERED, NOT CREATED (CONT.)

• Truth is apprehended by discovery, a process which favors the curious and the diligent• Truth does not depend on our acknowledgement

of it, nor is it in any way altered by our ignorance or transformed by our wishful thinking• King Tut’s tomb did not spring into existence when

archaeologists dug it up; it was waiting there to be discovered

• Art forgeries are not genuine when people are fooled, and then fake when the deception is revealed

• Cigarette smoking is not rendered harmless to our health because we would prefer it to be so

WHY THE CONFUSION?

• Much of the confusion about truth arises from complex situations in which truth is difficult to ascertain or express• Are there really UFOs piloted by extraterrestrial beings?

The answer is hotly debated in some circles, and assertions are made that purport to express the truth.

• But the fact is, there is not yet sufficient evidence to say we know the truth about UFOs

• However, that does not mean that there is no truth about them, or that people who affirm their existence or deny it are equally correct

• It means that whatever the truth is, we do not yet possess it

WHY THE CONFUSION? (CONT.)

• Difficulty also arises when we ask psychological or philosophical questions (abstract vs concrete)• Is the cause of criminality genetic or environmental

(nature vs nurture) or some combination of the two?• Is there an afterlife?• What constitutes success?

• All of these questions have answers, but the are incomplete or tentative• That fact should not shake your conviction that

there are truths to be discovered

THE PROPER APPROACH FOR A GOOD CRITICAL THINKER

• Determine that you are going to have the right frame of mind as you pursue the truth

• Give it a sense of adventure that great thinkers in history have experienced

• Keep the following thoughts in mind• I know I have limitations and can be easily mistaken• Surely I’ll never find all the answers I’d like to• But I can observe a little more accurately, weigh things a little

more thoroughly, and make up my mind a little more carefully• If I do so, I’ll be a little closer to the truth

• And that is far more reasonable than saying “Everyone makes their own truth” or “It all depends on how you look at it”

YOUR ASSIGNMENT

• Check the website• Review this presentation again, along with the Ruggiero

textbook, chapter 3, “What is Truth?”• On page 38 in Ruggiero, respond to Applications 4 and 5,

plus answer the following question, typed, 1” margins, 12 point font, 500 word minimum:

“What makes something ‘wrong’?”