Is there absolute truth or is all truth relative?

[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.

[SliK]

How do you know the earth even exists?

[Minimii]

Also without humans how can you say something exists? Things are just bunch of atoms together.
Esse est percipi, things dont exist unless someone or something is there to perceive them.

[TripleNineThree]

I would define absolute truth as something that is true for ALL people in ALL places at ALL times. The statement that "humans cannot know absolute truth" is that absolutely true for all people or just you? If that "truth" is true for all people then wouldn't it technically be an absolute? If that statement is relative and could be true for you and not me, then why say it?

[SliK]

Some things can be absolutely true ("A triangle has three sides") and some can't (the earth is round).

@9995 - What kind of "truths" do you think are absolute?

[tadpole25]

Some things can be absolutely true ("A triangle has three sides")

Is that even a truth? It's man-made. Outside of the human brain, how do we know the concept of triangularity exists (especially if we may not even exist).

[EminemBase]

There are absolute truths. It's our thoughts / understanding that is relative.

(take for example, when people used to think leeches on the skin cured things and other bizarre practices of ignorance within medicine... and then we understood they didn't, and that these presumptions and ideas were wrong. Now, the absolute truth of these things not doing what we thought they did was always there, it was US that was wrong. The truth never changed, our understanding and knowledge did. Therefore it's our understanding, that is relative.)

As we get better with science, better at dissecting things, acquire more information... we learn more and we get closer to the absolute truth, with everything.

Absolute truths are the reality we've failed to fully understand yet, but it's still there and it's still an absolute truth. We're just not there yet, in whatever context that may be.

It's almost like...

When we struggle to compute the 'beginning' of the Universe and 'what was BEFORE it' etc.

In reality, that's just our brains struggling to fit the concept of reality within our language and concept barriers we've set for ourselves, and which we're naturally (mentally) inclined to. WE think of a 'beginning' and an 'end', and if something doesn't fit inside that concept, we're confused...

But it's us that's confused, not the truth. The truth of reality isn't beholden to humans.

We're just tourists, trying to understand it.

[SliK]

Some things can be absolutely true ("A triangle has three sides")

Is that even a truth? It's man-made. Outside of the human brain, how do we know the concept of triangularity exists (especially if we may not even exist).

The concepts exist because we made them exist. If you can think, you exist in some form. If you can conceive a triangle, they too exist in some form.

[Kill You]

Fuck it, we're all in the Matrix.