TRUTH—AN ANALYSIS

TRUTH—AN ANALYSIS Relative or Absolute I T IS GENERALLY believed that truth is not something absolute. People have different perceptions or criteria for truth. That which is truth for one, may not be truth for another. In other words, truth is something relative not real, known in other words as ‘personal truth’. A philosopher has described it in the following words: There are no full stops in Truth, but 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 in, he does so 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. As long as 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 man comprehends 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 form. This is the conviction on the basis of which the process of search and research continued for thousands of years. If man were to believe that things did not occur in their absolute form, 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, he cannot stay alive for Denying truth to be absolute is akin to mental suicide. Those who hold this belief are not serious in their utterance. Refusing to accept the truth in its absolute form is similar to refusing to accept one’s mother in the absolute form.