Is there absolute truth or is all truth relative?

[TripleNineThree]

Discuss.

[SliK]

Only rational truths (ie free from empirical evidence) can be absolute.

Eg: 1+1=2
A triangle has three sides
Etc.

[Devil'sAdvocate]

Should we answer every question? i think not

so of course not all truth is absolute unless it can be proven,how can we call it truth?

[SliK]

Should we answer every question? i think not

so of course not all truth is absolute unless it can be proven,how can we call it truth?

How can you "prove" something?

[Devil'sAdvocate]

by showing its credibility,like it helps with the credibility of a god if i actually see one, wouldn't ya think?

[SliK]

by showing its credibility,like it helps with the credibility of a god if i actually see one, wouldn't ya think?

I'm sorry but simply observing something doesn't make it true. If you saw a "God", who is to say that you didn't hallucinate it? Who is to say you didn't dream it? Also, if 500 people witness something they won't all have exactly the same recollection of what happened, even if they all believed their own version was absolutely true.

Empirical evidence (evidence collected via sensory input [eyes, ears, etc.]) isn't enough to say something is absolutely true.

[SliK]

Only rational truths (ie free from empirical evidence) can be absolute.

Eg: 1+1=2
A triangle has three sides
Etc.

Kind of off topic but I once met a Doctor who is extremely educated and he once told me it actually took a whole novel to prove that 1 + 1 = 2...I know it sounds stupid...but that is what he told me.

Principia Mathematica

[SliK]

Yeah bigray that's probably the book he was referring to.

Rene Descartes, a brilliant French philosopher discussed this in depth. He questioned what humans were actually able to "know". He theorized that there is no way to know if anything you see is real. He even questioned how do we know that we really exist (google brain in a vat theory)..

You've probably heard of the Latin expression Cogito Ergo Sum - "I think, therefore I am". He stated that even if we cannot be sure that our surroundings or even our physical body is real, we can create that thought. He said if we are able to create a though we must exist in some sense. Hence, "Cogito Ergo Sum". Unfortunately he concluded this is the only thing we can really "know" about ourself.

[SliK]

Don't bother buying it. You can google proofs that are a lot simpler.

And if you're interests in Philosophy, a lecturer from my University wrote a very introductory book that's very easy to read and stay interested in, called A History of Philosophy. It talks about Aristotle, as well as Socretes and Plato who are Greek philosophers with brilliant minds who proposed that the earth was round and rotated the sun long before the invention of the telescope. Plato was actually killed by the church for his beliefs, which were far more accurate than the religious beliefs (earth is flat, sun revolves sound the earth, etc)

[Devil'sAdvocate]

by showing its credibility,like it helps with the credibility of a god if i actually see one, wouldn't ya think?

I'm sorry but simply observing something doesn't make it true. If you saw a "God", who is to say that you didn't hallucinate it? Who is to say you didn't dream it? Also, if 500 people witness something they won't all have exactly the same recollection of what happened, even if they all believed their own version was absolutely true.

Empirical evidence (evidence collected via sensory input [eyes, ears, etc.]) isn't enough to say something is absolutely true.

When a completely sane human that does not hallucinate and can differentiate between the absolute meaninglessness of a dream sees something,then yes it does prove its truth in my opinion.

And if empirical evidence isn't enough,what is?

[SliK]

Where can I read this book "A History of Philosophy" I prefer topics like this one to be easy to read.

That is the problem about Religion, it is pretty much impossible to prove the beliefs are real. Well the only way too shut someone up is by killing them especially when they are exposing truth.

My mistake, it's called "The Story of Philosophy". It was actually the firs philosophy book I ever read

http://books.google.com.au/books/about/ ... edir_esc=y

[SliK]

by showing its credibility,like it helps with the credibility of a god if i actually see one, wouldn't ya think?

I'm sorry but simply observing something doesn't make it true. If you saw a "God", who is to say that you didn't hallucinate it? Who is to say you didn't dream it? Also, if 500 people witness something they won't all have exactly the same recollection of what happened, even if they all believed their own version was absolutely true.

Empirical evidence (evidence collected via sensory input [eyes, ears, etc.]) isn't enough to say something is absolutely true.

When a completely sane human that does not hallucinate and can differentiate between the absolute meaninglessness of a dream sees something,then yes it does prove its truth in my opinion.

lol

And if empirical evidence isn't enough,what is?

That's the million dollar question.

[Devil'sAdvocate]

Why should it be the million dollar question? nobody seems to find the answer,i can comfortably dismiss the question and just be satisfied with empirical evidence,fucking humans!

[Minimii]

Why should it be the million dollar question? nobody seems to find the answer,i can comfortably dismiss the question and just be satisfied with empirical evidence,fucking humans!

You cant prove that whatever you are experiencing is actually there and not just made up by your brain.
Gotdammit i used to be so good at philosophy but now i dont remember shiiit.

Looks like I can get that book free on Google Play...Ill check it out..thanks bro.

Check out "three minute philosophy" in Youtube, it'll clear up everything. LOL

[momentsgolden]

there IS absolute truth. It exists, it can be pursued. But humans cannot have it. The truth we have is relative.

Think of the shape of the earth. It HAS a shape. That shape is true. But when humans said it was round, that was relatively wrong. The view that the earth is "round" or "spherical" is closer to the truth yet. But there is a shape which is true.

So, u can apply that to everything. Matter, Religion, Love.