One thing that bothers me quite a lot about modern religions, modern politics, and much of modern life in general, is the emphasis on what is "true," what is "right," and what is "good." Rather than addressing all of these topics at once, which would be quite a thing to take on, I have chosen to examine one of them, truth. Forgive the shortness of the entry, especially on a topic that deserves a longer treatment (although probably from someone more knowledgeable about it than I).
Mark Twain, that thinker of deep thoughts, gave us the oft-cited wisdom that "a lie can get halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." His cynicism is echoed in the works of countless others. Stephen Crane, novelist, poet, etc., writes in is poem "The wayfarer," of a traveler who stumbles upon the road of truth, but finds it choked with weeds, which he further realizes to be knives. Truth is a hard road to follow, and the cynics among us would be quick to tell us that it is, to quote yet another famous artist, "the road less traveled." The most difficult aspect of truth is that, despite its apparently answering nature, it leads to many deep questions. Questions of truth have plagued humanity since the beginning of its time on the planet: what is truth? What is true? Is there even a single objective truth? From the Greek Forms to Gandhi's bold statement "Truth is God," everyone from philosophers to slaves has mused about truth at some point.
So what is truth? Aristotle held that truth was in the relationship between a perception of something and the reality of the thing. Ibn Sina defined truth as the correspondence between thought and reality, that is, the way something is seen in the mind. Martin Heidigger in the 20th century redefined truth with the Greek word aletheia, the truth that is revealed when something that was once hidden is first brought to light. All of these thoughts touch on a common theme: truth is something beyond a simple statement of facts. Further, truth is new, truth is relative, and truth is about comparing reality to perception. From this, how can truth be objective? Truth is all about a subjective perception of something. As more things are revealed or as the subject changes, so does the subject's perception, and thus, so does what is true.
So, next time you're making in a discussion with someone and someone brings up "the Truth" (with a capital T), remind them that the truth is subjective: what appears obviously true to one person might be completely unknown to his neighbor. Truth, like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder.
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