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| Chocolate Hills, Bohol, Philippines |
Aristotle defined man as a “being that has logos.” It means that man does not only
have rational faculty, but he has also language. Though language is closely
associated with reason, the former is basically different from the latter. Language presupposes rationality, but it could
not be reduced to the latter. They are
two distinct, yet related human phenomena: language is the vehicle of thoughts.
These two faculties define the human being as a searcher of truth, and it is
for this reason that we consider him as a rational being. We can say that man
is endowed with reason and language because he is preordained to seek the
truth. But what is truth? Is there a
universal and absolute truth, or do multiple truths exist instead? Is man capable of discovering or achieving the
truth, or is he limited to know the relative and changeable truths only?
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| Banaue Rice Terraces, Ifugao, Philippines |
Inarguably, man wants to know the meaning of his existence.
And this yearning is etched in the heart of every human being. Man constantly aspires
for a satisfactory answer to each of these incessant questions: Who am I? Why
am I here? Where do I ultimately come from? Where shall I go after this earthly life?
These queries manifest man’s persistent search for truth. Implausible answers could not convince him.
Only the truth could satisfy this longing. Failure to answer these questions
means a human life without meaning, worthless. However, Richard Rorty rejects
the idea of a search for truth in man because for him it is just a dogmatic
scientific dream. According to him moreover, science does not present objective
truths about the world. Thus for him, there is no such thing as universal
truths and much less an absolute truth. Rorty believes that truth is subjective
or relative, therefore mutable and contingent. In his writings Rorty argues
that "truth" has various important uses, but these do not guarantee
any justification whatsoever. What he means is that the propositions have no substantial
content at all. It means that any proposition would just be reduced to mere
opinion or mere semantic explanation and nothing else. This assertion is
contradictory, for his own argument would be reduced to mere opinion also or
meaningless proposition.
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| Sagada National Park, Mountain Province, Philippines |
If truth is
subjective, therefore depending on the perspective of each individual, does it
mean that man is the creator or arbiter of truth? But this would be
contradictory to the general sentiment of all human beings. What is the purpose
of asking those basic human questions if each could answer them with his own
truth? But we know by experience that each of us human beings have this anxiety
to know the truth about us. Our own speculations about ourselves do not satisfy
this anxiety. We are very much aware that we do not have the satisfactory
answers to those questions. It is an absurdity to seek if we have the thing
that we seek in front of us. It is likewise absurd to ask a question if we know
already the answer to the question. We may have subjective answers to those
questions above, but why is it that we continue to be restless? Why we are not
satisfied with the answers? Is it because our answers would always be partial
and inadequate? This just proves that the claim that truth is relative is
self-contradictory or self- refuting, and that skepticism is absurd and
irrational. It also shows that truth is not a competency of human being, that
is, man is not the creator of truth.
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| Palawan, Philippines |
It does not mean, however, that man is not capable of knowing
or even attaining the truth. Man has been endowed with rational faculties for
this very reason. Without this capacity of knowing the truth, any form of
knowledge would be useless, and dialogue or communication between persons would
be impossible. Man would be reduced to the level of the lower animals or that
his act of knowing would be similar to those beasts. Even skeptics would
disagree with this. What distinguish us from other animals are our rational
faculties. Skeptics will never deny this fact. But reason has knowledge as its
object. Without it, reason is inept. Similarly, knowledge without truth is
ridiculous, that is, irrational.
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| Mt. Apo, Mindanao, Philippines |
Human knowledge though is neither infallible nor perfect. Man
is aware of his own limitation and imperfection. In his definition of truth,
Charles Sanders Peirce emphasizes that incompleteness and partiality which he
calls fallibilism are essential to the proper conception of truth. But he does
not consider himself as skeptic. Peirce does not deny the existence of truth.
In fact, he believes that there are various and diverse ways in knowing the
truth. He does not espouse however the idea that truth is subjective or
relative. I do agree with him that nobody has the exclusive possession or
ownership of truth epistemologically speaking. Besides, I do agree with Peirce
as regards to epistemic and linguistic relativism. But I will never hesitate to
disagree with him if his idea of pluralism includes religious relativism for
Truth never contradicts itself. Truth may have many and different facets, but
it remains the same. The way we perceive or express truth through words or
propositions does not change truth at all. Furthermore, knowing a facet of
truth does not mean that we do not know the truth. Knowing a certain person by
different perspective, either his benevolent or wicked side, does not mean that
we do not know at all that particular person. Yes, we do not totally know him,
but we at least know him.
If Peirce’s pragmatism consists in this, then I am a
pragmatist. I believe however that truth is not a mere concept or abstract idea
subject to any form of verification. It is not simply a concordance of abstract
statement with the ideal limit. Truth that is impersonal is a contradiction.
Thus, the absolute and ultimate Truth is a person. In this sense, this person
possesses or owns the truth. In fact, He is Truth himself.
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| Charles Sanders Peirce |
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