Chapter 2_1 The Domains of Truth in philosophy.pptx

This will be able to help the philosophy novices to understand how truth is to be understood.

1. Chapter 2 Truth and Philosophy

2. In the previous chapter we learned about the meaning and the process of doing philosophy . We also learned how to distinguish between personal and philosophical questions . When we start to raise such questions, we, ultimately, want to arrive at the truth . Nowadays, it is more and more difficult to discern what is true from what it is false ; it seems that everybody can claim to hold the truth.

3. Philosophy as a discipline will not claim to be the sole bearer of truth . It is not much “the Truth” that concerns philosophy , but rather the way or process by which we can distinguish claims that are true from those that are false. There is much more disagreement rather than agreement among philosophers with regard to the question of truth.

4. Nevertheless, there is one thing that most of them agree on: that truth is not a simple matter as much as human knowing is just as complex a process .

5. Lesson 1: The Domains of Truth

6. “ ‘The truth.’ Dumbledore sighed. ‘It is beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore treated with great caution.’” J.K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

7. Objectives : At the end of the lesson, you are expected to : 1. Distinguish the different ways of understanding truth. 2. Explain the criteria to establish the truth in an argument.

8. Activity:

9. Share your thoughts among your groupmates on the following real-life situation.

10. A man who lives away from his family abroad has been in a state of coma, sustained by life support from medical equipment for about two months. Doctors have told his friends that he has very low chance of being revived if they take away the life support from him.

11. It seems that they are left with no other option but to pull the plug, than to keep him in life support for years. As per hospital regulations, it is only family members who are allowed to consent to pulling the plug. The man’s brother finally arrived from his home country to give the consent.

12. Something strange happened, however, the moment the brother started talking to the patient in coma. They noticed that his vital signs began to stabilize. Days passed, and the patient started to show signs of rapid improvement.

13. The doctors up to this day are unable to explain what had happened. Friends of the patient say the prayers of his community for a miracle was granted. Others say that the presence of his brother had a healing effect on him.

14. Some doctors say that the medication must have worked in a way that surprised the experts in the field. Today the man has fully survived his condition and is a normal as he can be. What do you think truly happened here?

15. ANALYSIS: Note the differences in your opinion about the situation above. Who do you think among you is more correct? What makes you thinks so?

16. What is TRUTH? What do we mean when we say that something is true?

17. TRUTH* SCIENTIFIC TRUTH =

18. A study from Jayward Pitkin University shows that 95% of men and women who are taller than the average height are more likely to become successful and happy in their careers . Jayward Pitkin University

19. Truth in this sense is related to science because it is the field that delivers knowledge about the natural world . By natural, we mean here the totality of the physical realm*.

20. As such, when science wants to explain the principles or conceptual connections behind them, they resort to objects in the physical world for their demonstration .

21. When we say that something is true , we usually mean what the scientists mean – that it is verified in the natural world .

22. Masaru Emoto’s Rice Experiment www.youtube.com

23. OBJECTIVE TRUTHS They point to descriptions of “states of affairs” which remain true regardless of who is viewing them.*

24. Some scientists, however, point out that the scientific truths are part of just one among the many ways of understanding truth. Unfortunately, not everyone is clearly aware of this.

25. Believers are judged to be irrational because they cannot demonstrate the truth of their faith . Believers are irrational because they believe in things that cannot be verified.

26. Only those who believe in things that can be verified are rational. In other words, based on what has been said above so far; Only those who believe in scientific truths are rational.*

27. For many of us, these are the truths that matter because they define the direction of our human lives.

28. Does this mean then that we are irrational? And if we are, does this mean that we are not human?

29. Philosophy has been aware that the truth about truth remains to be a question for thousands of years now.

30. To narrowly confine truth to the scientific way of thinking is to claim that there is only ONE way of understanding truth .

31. Domains of Truth ( Jürgen Habermas )

32. Apart from the scientific truths, there are other domains* in life in which we understand truth differently. Jürgen Habermas (1979)

33. DOMAINS OF TRUTH Objective Domain Personal Domain Social Domain

34. Scientific truths are covered by the objective domain of life. This pertains to the natural world that maintains a relative independence from the perspective and attitude of human beings that perceive them. 1. Objective Domain

35. Bagyong Yolanda (2013)

36. “truth” is analogous* with (not the exact equivalent) of a general agreement of consensus on what is right as opposed to what is wrong. 2. Social Domain

37. We do not look at these two different situations as contradicting each other. We understand that some things are “true” or good in a particular context, while they are “false” or wrong in another context.

38. The truths in the social domain are mostly products of an “agreement” in society that has been established over time.*

39. As such they can be changed through a critical examination and deliberation among the members of a community.

40. truth is analogous with sincerity. 3. Personal Domain

41. “I am telling the truth.”*

42. For this reason, the truths that we claim in this domain need corresponding actions that will establish trust . A person who proves to be consistent with what he declares about himself is regarded as authentic and can therefore be trusted or trustworthy.

43. So when we ask, “What is the truth?” it is important to know from what domain we are asking this question, so we can also know in what way we can test whether or not a claim is true.

44. Truth and Justification (Richard Rorty )

45. Truth can be understood as what has passed “procedures of justification.” Richard Rorty (1989)

46. Justification -means the process of proving the truth or validity of a statement.*

47. DOMAINS OF TRUTH Objective Domain Personal Domain Social Domain truths are tested against empirical evidence. truths are tested against their acceptability to a particular group in a particular time in history. truths are tested against the consistency and authenticity of the person who claims it.

48. justified by data gathered from careful observation and analysis.* 1. Justification of scientific truths

49. involved in the process of justifying them are people coming from varying backgrounds and history. Social norms take time before they are turned into hard laws*. 2. Justification of social norms

50. Social norms turned into social “truths” are the basis for the balance in our society. Without them, society will be no different from a jungle I which only the strong and powerful survive.

51. is probably the longest to complete among the three. This is because personal truths take a whole lifetime of consistency in the actions and decisions of a person who makes a claim about himself. 3. Justification of personal truths

52. It is important that a declaration of conversion must be declared publicly .* Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1953)

53. Despite the many ways by which we can understand truth, there is a common definition them of what truth is—that it has surpassed its test of justification. -To answer the question, “What is the truth?” we must first determine which domain of truth of assertion belongs to, then apply the corresponding criteria of justifying the truth of such assertion -If we are clear about what makes a statement true, we can easily distinguish it from a mere opinion. SUMMARY