Absolute truth and relative truth. Absolute and relative truths
True traditionally understood as correspondence of thoughts and statements to reality. This concept of truth is called classical and goes back to ideas ancient Greek philosophers And . Here are their statements on this matter:
Plato: He who speaks of things in accordance with what they are speaks the truth, but he who speaks of them differently lies. Aristotle: To say of a being that it does not exist, or of a non-existent that it is, is to speak falsely; and to say that what exists and what does not exist is not means to say what is true.
Polish-American logician and mathematician Alfred Tarski (1902-1984) expressed the classical formula of truth this way: The statement “P is C” is true if P is C. For example, the statement “Gold is a metal” is true if gold really is a metal. Thus, truth and falsity are characteristics of our thoughts and statements about reality and are impossible outside of human cognitive activity.
Relative and absolute truths
Relative truth- this is knowledge that approximately and limitedly reproduces reality.
Absolute truth- this is complete, exhaustive knowledge of reality that cannot be refuted.
Development is characterized by the desire for absolute truth as an ideal, but the final achievement of this ideal is impossible. Reality cannot be completely exhausted, and with each new discovery new questions arise. In addition, the unattainability of absolute truth is due to the imperfection of the means of knowledge available to man. At the same time, each discovery is simultaneously a step towards absolute truth: in any relative truth there is some part of the absolute truth.
The statement of the ancient Greek philosopher Democritus (5th century BC) “the world consists of atoms” contains a moment of absolute truth, but in general the truth of Democritus is not absolute, since it does not exhaust reality. Modern representations about the microcosm and elementary particles more accurate, however, they do not exhaust reality as a whole. Each such truth contains elements of both relative and absolute truth.
Approaches according to which truth is only relative lead to relativism if it is believed that it is only absolute, then dogmatism.
Absolute truth in its broadest sense must not be confused with eternal or banal truths, such as “Socrates is a man” or “The speed of light in a vacuum is 300 thousand km/s.” Eternal truths are absolute only in relation to specific facts, and for more essential provisions, for example for scientific laws, and even more so for complex systems and reality in general, there are no complete and exhaustive truths.
In Russian, in addition to the concept of “truth”, the concept is also used "Truth", which is much broader in its meaning: truth is the combination of objective truth and moral justice, the highest ideal not only for scientific knowledge, but also for human behavior. As V.I. Dal said, truth is “truth in practice, truth in good.”
Lies and deception
Lies and deception act as the opposite of truth and indicate a discrepancy between judgment and reality. The difference between them lies in the fact of intentionality. So, delusion there is an unintentional discrepancy between judgments and reality, and lie - deliberately elevating misconceptions into truth.
The search for truth can thus be understood as a process constant struggle against lies and delusion.
ABSOLUTE AND RELATIVE TRUTH are categories of dialectical materialism that characterize the process of development of knowledge and reveal the relationship between: 1) what has already been known and what will be known in the further process of development of science; 2) the fact that the composition of our knowledge can be changed, clarified, refuted in the course of further development of science, and that which will remain irrefutable. The doctrine of Absolute and relative truth provides an answer to the question: “...can human ideas expressing objective truth express it immediately, entirely, unconditionally, absolutely, or only approximately, relatively?” (Lenin V.I.T. 18. P. 123). In this regard, absolute truth is understood as complete, exhaustive knowledge about reality (1) and as that element of knowledge that cannot be refuted in the future (2). Our knowledge at each stage of development is determined by the achieved level of science, technology, and production. With the further development of knowledge and practice, human ideas about nature deepen, clarify, and improve. Therefore, scientific truths are relative in the sense that they do not provide complete, exhaustive knowledge about the field of subjects being studied and contain elements that will change, become more precise, deepen, and be replaced by new ones in the process of development of knowledge. At the same time, each relative truth means a step forward in the knowledge of absolute truth, and contains, if it is scientific, elements, grains of absolute truth. There is no uncrossable line between absolute and relative truth. The sum of relative truths creates the absolute truth. The history of science and social practice confirms this dialectical nature of the development of knowledge. In the process of development, science reveals deeper and more fully the properties of objects and the relationships between them, approaching the knowledge of absolute truth, which is confirmed by the successful application of theory in practice (in public life, in production, etc.). On the other hand, previously created theories are constantly refined and developed; some hypotheses are refuted (for example, the hypothesis about the existence of ether), others are confirmed and become proven truths (for example, the hypothesis about the existence of atoms); Some concepts are eliminated from science (for example, “caloric” and “phlogiston”), others are clarified and generalized (cf. the concepts of simultaneity and inertia in classical mechanics and in the theory of relativity). The doctrine of absolute and relative truth overcomes the one-sidedness of metaphysical concepts that declare every truth eternal, unchanging (“absolute”), and the concepts of relativism, which claim that every truth is only relative (relative), that the development of science indicates only a change in successive misconceptions and that therefore there is not and cannot be absolute truth. In reality, as Lenin put it, “every ideology is historical, but what is certain is that every scientific ideology (unlike, for example, a religious one) corresponds to an objective truth, an absolute nature” (Vol. 18, p. 138).
Philosophical Dictionary. Ed. I.T. Frolova. M., 1991, p. 5-6.
Absolute and relative truth
At any given historical moment, the knowledge acquired by science is characterized by a certain incompleteness and incompleteness.
Progress in the knowledge of truth lies in the fact that this incompleteness and incompleteness of truth is gradually eliminated and reduced, and the accuracy and completeness of the reflection of phenomena and laws of nature is increasingly increasing.
It is necessary to distinguish conscious lies, which the enemies of scientific progress very often resort to, from those errors and misconceptions that arise in the process of cognition due to
objective conditions: insufficiency general level knowledge in this field, imperfections of technical devices used in scientific research, etc. The dialectical inconsistency of knowledge is also manifested in the fact that truth often develops alongside error, and sometimes it happens that the form of development of truth is one-sided or even erroneous theories.
Throughout the 19th century, physics relied on the wave theory of light. At the beginning of the 20th century, it became clear that the wave theory of light is one-sided and insufficient, since light has both a wave and a corpuscular nature. However, the one-way wave theory made it possible to make a lot of important discoveries and explain many optical phenomena.
An example of the development of truth in the form of an erroneous theory is Hegel’s development dialectical method on a false, idealistic basis.
The incompleteness, incompleteness of human knowledge and truths obtained by man is usually designated as relativity(relativity) of knowledge. Relative truth- this is an incomplete, incomplete, inconclusive truth.
But if we stopped at the statement about the relativity of human knowledge and did not go further to the question of absolute truth, we would fall into the mistake that many modern physicists very often make and which idealist philosophers cleverly use. They see in human knowledge only relativity, weakness and imperfection and therefore come to the denial of objective truth, to relativism and agnosticism. From the point of view of such one-sided relativism, any sophistry, any fiction can be justified - after all, everything is relative, nothing is absolute!
V.I. Lenin said that materialist dialectics recognizes the relativity of all our knowledge, but recognizes it “not in the sense of denying objective truth, but in the sense of the historical conditionality of the limits of approximation of our knowledge to this truth” 13.
In our always relative knowledge there is such an objectively true content that is preserved in the process of cognition and serves as a support for the further development of knowledge. Such enduring content in the relative truths of human knowledge is called absolutely true content, or more simply - absolute truth.
Recognition of absolute truth follows from recognition of objective truth. In fact, if our knowledge reflects objective reality, then, despite the inevitable inaccuracies and mistakes, there must be something in it that has unconditional, absolute meaning. Lenin pointed out
that “to recognize objective, i.e., truth independent of man and humanity, means one way or another to recognize absolute truth” 14.
More materialist philosophers ancient Greece taught that life arose from inanimate matter, and man originated from animals. Thus, according to Anaximander (6th century BC), the first living beings were formed from sea mud, and man came from fish. The development of science has shown that the ideas of ancient Greek philosophers about how life arose and man appeared were very naive and incorrect. And yet, despite this, there was something absolutely true in their teaching - the idea of \u200b\u200bthe natural origin of life and man, which science has confirmed and preserved.
The recognition of absolute truth immediately separates dialectical materialism from the views of agnostics and relativists who do not want to see the power of human knowledge, its all-conquering power, which the secrets of nature cannot resist.
It is often said that there are not so many absolute truths in human knowledge and that they are reduced to trivial, i.e., generally known, provisions. For example, statements such as “twice two makes four” or “The Volga flows into the Caspian Sea” are absolute, complete truths, but they are supposedly not of particular value.
To this it can be objected that in fact human cognition contains many extremely important absolutely true provisions that will not be changed by further progress of science. This is, for example, the statement of philosophical materialism about the primacy of matter and the secondary nature of consciousness. It is absolutely true that society cannot exist and develop without producing material goods. The absolute truth is the idea contained in Darwin's teachings of the development of organic species and the origin of man from animals.
A person gets to know the world, society and himself with one goal - to know the truth. What is truth, how to determine that this or that knowledge is true, what are the criteria of truth? This is what this article is about.
What is truth
There are several definitions of truth. Here are some of them.
- Truth is knowledge that corresponds to the subject of knowledge.
- Truth is a truthful, objective reflection of reality in human consciousness.
Absolute and relative truth
Absolute truth - This is a person’s complete, exhaustive knowledge of something. This knowledge will not be refuted or supplemented with the development of science.
Examples: a person is mortal, two and two are four.
Relative truth - this is knowledge that will be replenished with the development of science, since it is still incomplete and does not fully reveal the essence of phenomena, objects, etc. This happens due to the fact that at this stage of human development, science cannot yet reach the ultimate essence of the subject being studied.
Example: first people discovered that substances consist of molecules, then of atoms, then of electrons, etc. As we see, at every stage of the development of science, the idea of an atom was true, but incomplete, that is, relative.
Difference between absolute and relative truth is how fully a particular phenomenon or object has been studied.
Remember: absolute truth was always first relative. Relative truth can become absolute with the development of science.
Are there two truths?
No, there are no two truths . There may be several points of view on the subject being studied, but the truth is always the same.
What is the opposite of truth?
The opposite of truth is error.
Misconception - this is knowledge that does not correspond to the subject of knowledge, but is accepted as truth. A scientist believes that his knowledge about a subject is true, although he is mistaken.
Remember: lie- Not is the opposite of truth.
Lie is a category of morality. It is characterized by the fact that the truth is hidden for some purpose, although it is known. Z delusion same - this is not a lie, but a sincere belief that knowledge is true (for example, communism is a delusion, such a society cannot exist in the life of mankind, but entire generations of Soviet people sincerely believed in it).
Objective and subjective truth
Objective truth - this is the content of human knowledge that exists in reality and does not depend on a person, on his level of knowledge. This is the whole world that exists around.
For example, much in the world, in the Universe, exists in reality, although humanity has not yet known it, perhaps it will never know it, but it all exists, an objective truth.
Subjective truth - this is the knowledge acquired by humanity as a result of its cognitive activity, this is everything in reality that has passed through the consciousness of man and is understood by him.
Remember: Objective truth is not always subjective, and subjective truth is always objective.
Criteria of truth
Criteria– this is a word of foreign origin, translated from Greek kriterion - a measure for evaluation. Thus, the criteria of truth are the grounds that will allow one to be convinced of the truth, accuracy of knowledge, in accordance with its subject of knowledge.
Criteria of truth
- Sensual experience - the simplest and most reliable criterion of truth. How to determine if an apple is tasty - try it; how to understand that music is beautiful - listen to it; How to make sure that the color of the leaves is green - look at them.
- Theoretical information about the subject of knowledge, that is, theory . Many objects are not amenable to sensory perception. We will never be able to see, for example, Big Bang, as a result of which the Universe was formed. In this case, theoretical study and logical conclusions will help to recognize the truth.
Theoretical criteria of truth:
- Compliance with logical laws
- Correspondence of truth to those laws that were discovered by people earlier
- Simplicity of formulation, economy of expression
- Practice. This criterion is also very effective, since the truth of knowledge is proven by practical means .(There will be a separate article about practice, follow the publications)
Thus, the main objective any knowledge - to establish the truth. This is exactly what scientists do, this is what each of us is trying to achieve in life: know the truth , no matter what she touches.
It is a kind of knowledge that objectively reflects the properties of a perceived object. - This is one of two types of truths. It represents adequate information that is relatively relevant to the object.
The difference between relative truth and absolute truth
As has already been said, truth may be truth represents some unattainable ideal; This is absolute knowledge about an object, fully reflecting its objective properties. Of course, our mind is not so omnipotent as to know the absolute truth, which is why it is considered unattainable. In reality, our knowledge of an object cannot completely coincide with it. Absolute truth is more often considered in connection with the process of scientific knowledge itself, which characterizes from the lower stages of knowledge to the highest. Relative truth is a kind of knowledge that does not fully reproduce information about the world. The main characteristics of relative truth are the incompleteness of knowledge and its approximation.
What is the basis for the relativity of truth?
Relative truth is knowledge obtained by a person using limited means of knowledge. A person is limited in his knowledge; he can only know part of reality. This is due to the fact that all truth comprehended by man is relative. Moreover, truth is always relative when knowledge is in the hands of people. Subjectivity and a clash of different opinions of researchers always interfere with the process of obtaining true knowledge. In the process of obtaining knowledge, there is always a collision between the objective world and the subjective. In this regard, the concept of delusion comes to the fore.
Misconceptions and relative truth
Relative truth is always incomplete knowledge about an object, which is also mixed with subjective characteristics. Misconception is initially always accepted as true knowledge, although it has no correspondence to reality. Although error reflects certain aspects one-sidedly, relative truth and error are not at all the same thing. Misconceptions are often included in some scientific theories(relative truths). They cannot be called completely false ideas, since they contain certain threads of reality. That is why they are accepted as true. Often, relative truth includes some fictitious objects, since they contain properties of the objective world. Thus, relative truth is not a fallacy, but it can be part of it.
In fact, all the knowledge that a person has at his disposal this moment and considers true, are relative, since they reflect reality only approximately. Relative truth may include a fictitious object, the properties of which do not correspond to reality, but which has some objective reflection, which makes it considered true. This happens as a result of a collision of objective knowable world with the subjective characteristics of the knower. Man as a researcher has very limited means of knowledge.
