TRUTH—AN ANALYSIS
Relative or Absolute
IT is generally believed that Truth is not something absolute. Different people have different perceptions or criterion for Truth. That which is Truth for one, may not be Truth for another. In other words, Truth is something relative not real. A philosopher has described it in the following words:
There are no full stops in Truth, only commas.
Some people think in this way but this is a notion that stands rejected prima facie. This supposition does not have any logic or rational ground to stand on. In this world, whatever man believes upon, he does it in an absolute sense. This is human nature. If man is not able to decipher a thing in its absolute sense, he continues his research until he has discovered it.
For example, in ancient times, man knew very little about the sun and the solar system. His search continued for thousands of years till he came to discover the overall system of the planets. Till the time man had not reached this discovery he continued his investigation.
The same is the case with other fields of knowledge. For thousands of years, man has engaged himself in research and investigation in various disciplines of knowledge. This quest is ongoing till date and will continue till he reaches the actual reality. This is because to man everything has an absolute form; from the stars to an atom—there is no exception to this rule.
It appears that the human mind takes everything in an absolute sense. This was the conviction on the basis of which the process of search and research continued through the millennia. If man were to believe that things did not occur in their absolute form, then scientific activities would come to a complete halt. Scientific discoveries would come to a standstill. The same principle applies to personal matters.
Man considers himself to be absolute. If he doesn’t think this way, then he cannot stay alive for even a single day. Man takes his mother, his wife, and his children in an absolute sense: the very survival of the family system is based upon it. In its absence the entire system of human life would be shattered. Similarly man considers his property like his house, his business and his bank balance to be absolute. If he did not think like this, his economic life would never take shape.
In such a situation it would be an exception to consider that Truth is not absolute. It would mean that in the absolute world, Truth has a non-absolute existence. But, there is no logical basis for accepting this concept. It is incomprehensible to believe that in this vast universe, where everything else is in its absolute sense, Truth, as an exception to this rule is not in its absolute form. It is a contradiction in logical terms, and will never be acceptable to the minds of intellectuals.
This is not a simple matter. Upon reflection, we find that man has a dual existence—body and mind. Except for Truth everything caters to fulfilling the physical needs of man. Truth is the only thing that man requires for fulfilling his spiritual need.
Now, it is inconceivable that all objects of fulfilment of our physical needs are in their absolute form while Truth that fulfils our spiritual needs is not absolute. To accept this division we will have to admit that there is a big contradiction in this world that is that the objects of our material needs are available here in an absolute form while the objects of our spiritual needs are, by way of an exception not available here in an absolute form.
A philosopher, who believed in Truth supporting his point of view, said that Truth is the biggest requirement of man. Without it, man is totally incomplete. In fact, Truth is such a big human requirement that even if it is not absolute, we will have to supposedly take it to be in an absolute form.
The truth is that the denial of Truth to be absolute, is akin to a mental suicide. Those who hold this belief are not serious in their utterance. Refusing to accept the Truth in its absolute form is similar with refusing to accept one’s mother in the absolute form.
Another possible concept could be that nothing is true. Or that Truth is something different altogether or has no existence. This kind of thought is without doubt an intellectual luxury that no serious man can afford to indulge in.
On a serious note, a man can, however say that he has not found the Truth or that he is just a seeker but no serious man can say that Truth is not absolute. A seeker of Truth is looking for the answer to the question: "What is that knowledge by which I may believe?" When he finds Truth, he makes it supreme.
In the universe that man lives in, everything is known to be absolute and if something has not yet been discovered in its absolute sense, then man is continuously struggling hard to discover its absolute position. The same is the case with man’s identity. Man by his nature is an absolute-loving person. He wants to live in conviction. Truth gives us conviction. Only with conviction can we take any action. Our behaviour is governed by our conviction.
If he knows a woman to be his mother, then he wants to have an absolute belief in the fact that she is his mother. Similarly, when he owns a property then his ownership should be in the absolute sense. If this does not happen then man will be in an uncertain state of mind about everything. And it is a fact that man cannot live in uncertainty.
These facts make it clear that the concept of absolutism is exactly in accordance with human nature. On the contrary, regarding everything as non-absolute is against the very nature of human beings. As far as "Truth" is concerned, if it is not absolute, it cannot give us any conviction. To say that Truth is not absolute is like saying that I do not believe in anything to be Truth. A man can only become a skeptic with such a belief. And to be a skeptic is not a practical position for any human being.
