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Lesson One Lecture, The Pursuit of Truth

Overview
The Great Ideas model holds that we can know the truth. It contends that, with rigorous investigation and an open heart, we can learn the truth.

The question for us, though, is: the truth about what? Why is the truth even important?

Haven’t we had politicians who flaunted the truth and still managed to stay in office? Don’t we hold an entire class of celebrities in high regard, even though we know almost nothing about them, almost none of the “truth” about their lives? Who among us hasn’t told a little white lie? Who among us hasn’t worked to get around the truth from time to time?

What is Truth?
Philosophically, the matter of truth is sometimes considered at best academic. Our ability to know the truth is determined by our ability to exclude other possibilities in some subject area. This “knowing” of the truth is considered a matter for the philosophers to debate.

However, knowing is the first step in practicing the truth. As a practical matter, our ability to know the truth can impact our lives every day.

It can impact our relationships, setting us apart as a person of integrity. That can be especially true in view of its opposite. Even people who have no philosophical interest in the truth readily recognize an untrustworthy person.

It sometimes seems that we live in an age in which taking shortcuts, cheating, and ethical mistreatment of others are rewarded. However, over the long run, those behavior habits create self-destructive patterns and social resentment. Those who disregard ethical conduct, or who bear no regard for the truth, inevitably find a high price to pay.

Finding the Truth
The first and greatest step in finding the truth is recognizing right and wrong. Ethics, it is sometimes said, is the investigation not of “right vs. wrong,” but rather of “right vs. wrong, but…”

To recognize right and wrong it is necessary to have a point of reference, a standard. At best, that standard should be impersonal and timeless. In other words, the standard of right and wrong should not shift when applied to one person and not when applied to another. If a Member of Congress drives 65 mph in a 35 zone, they should be cited, just as any other citizen would be.

Although we live during a time of shifting morality, a timeless standard suggests that the nature of right and wrong does not change from generation to generation. It is very important to differentiate from “acceptable” actions and “right” actions. “Acceptable” is determined by social convenience; “right” is defined by a timeless point of reference.

We sometimes hear the phrase “the pendulum swings” used to describe changes in social and behavioral codes. Things that were considered unacceptable in one generation can become quite normal in another. The history of American beach ware provides an excellent example of this concept.

However, truth, or “right,” when it is applied from a standard, does not shift. It remains a fixed point.

Truth and Faith
Many religions and faith traditions hold out standards of truth. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all hold the monotheistic view that God is the source of all truth, and the fixed point that acts as a standard.

Many polytheistic religions and philosophy systems are less concerned with an absolute system of truth. They are also often seductively unconcerned with the judgments that accompany an expectation of truth, or “right” behavior.

All religions and faith systems that define “right” behavior provide a fixed point of reference for what is “true.” They also define, either on purpose or by omission, that which is “wrong,” or “false.” In doing so, they do two important things: they take the interpretation of truth out of human hands; and they set themselves up as singular repositories of truth.

We know that, by definition, a single fixed point of truth is not multiple points. Therefore, any system that fixes a code of “right” and “wrong,” or seeks to define “truth” is open to evaluation by this simple standard: it must be either true or false.

Truth and Human Society
It is difficult to maintain a fixed point of truth without an impersonal and timeless standard. Once a fixed standard, especially one that is divinely inspired, has been brought into question, it becomes a human construction and becomes susceptible to the vagaries of human taste.

When people determine that the standards of the past are irrelevant and inconvenient, they often replace timeless truths with versions that are more currently fashionable or palatable. Inevitably, once a fixed standard has been “moved,” or replaced, it becomes open to repeated revisions.

Discussion questions:
Please review the following questions and post your responses here by pressing “add a reply.”

Jesus said, “…know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” He could have said, “know the scriptures,” or “know your history,” or “know all the right steps.” However, he chose to say, “know the truth.” Why do you suppose he was so interested that we “know the truth”?

What, in your opinion, are the long term consequences of letting the definition of concepts like “truth,” “right” and “wrong” drift with human and societal opinion. Will society get better and continue to define such concepts at higher and higher levels? Will it let such concepts deteriorate?