I mentioned in my article on ‘Faith and Politics’ that there is such a thing as Truth, and that seeking and discerning such truth is both possible and important.
This is not a philosophy blog or website, and therefore not the place for a lengthy discussion on the arguments and reasons for affirming absolute truth, but it is worth briefly considering why this topic is important, and some of the ways in which it influences political issues.
You can find plenty of articles and arguments on the web discussing absolute truth. For those who are interested you may want to look at Peter Ditzel’s piece here, or this article on the ‘All About Philosophy’ website which has many interesting links to follow on related topics.
But as I said my purpose here is to consider the damage that postmodern relativism has done to our society, culture and politics, and why seeking to know and understand Truth is so important. One of the worst consequences of relativism is that it has created an environment where it’s now seen as unacceptable to state that some cultures, societal structures or civilisations are better/worse than others. For the argument goes, that as there is no absolute truth then it is not possible for any society to claim to be better than another, and all are equally valid and acceptable. Moreover, we should therefore not only accept each and every culture equitably, but that we should be willing to embrace each and every culture as equals.
However, once it is accepted that Truth matters (which I believe in reality we all do, because otherwise there is no such thing as right & wrong), then not only does it follow that some cultures and societies will be better than others (ie more closely aligned with what is True), but it becomes an imperative for us to seek to become better as a society and therefore ever closer to what is True. And this has the equal imperative of rejecting and disputing that which is false and inferior.
It is clear that this has profound implications for politics, political decisions and societal structures. An aspect I find most odd is that whilst the language and logic I’ve set out above will deeply upset many liberals, those same people will argue for the need for just laws, systems and government – which can only exist if one accepts that we can define what is and isn’t just, which in turns means seeking truth!
So many of the great advances in science, justice, healthcare and civic life came about in our history because our forebears believed that there was such a thing as knowable truth and that seeking it would improve our world – and they were right. That doesn’t mean they got everything right, or didn’t make errors, or walk down false paths from time to time. Nor does it mean that every actor in our history lived life in a good or loving way towards their neighbour; but as a collective whole so much good was achieved because of this mindset. And our experience more recently has been to see much of that unravel as we’ve embraced a culture of relativism and a philosophy which treats all cultures and societies of equal value and merit.
We need our Government to clearly and explicitly state its belief in truth and a desire to seek such truth for the benefit of society. This should flow through to our schools, our universities, our police system, our judicial system and our businesses. It should influence our foreign policy, our law making and our regulation of activities. In short it requires a significant overhaul of all aspects of our society such that we can again start to build on solid foundations.