Mar Elias Evangelisation

Relativity and Truth

Posted by Elias on 03-November-2018 in philosophy

There exists an absolute source of morality and goodness in the world.

When I was young, I was convinced by the theory of relativity. I considered that 'everything is relative', and that truth depended on the perspective. I thought that the truth changes with time and place, so if you belonged to one country or party, what you consider as truth, would be different to what another person who belongs to another country or party considers as truth.

This is a fundamentally false claim, not just because the argument itself is self-destructive, but because there is a misconception:

The claim that 'everything is relative' is based on the assumption (according to my understanding) that truth and interest or profit, are the same thing. But they aren't. There is a huge difference between doing what we truly believe to be just and right; and between doing what is most profitable to us. The first is absolute, it never changes with the change of space or time. But the second is relative, it depends on the situation and the circumstances.

So the truth is the same for everyone, and it falls on us to walk in its way, or to do what pleases us most, or what satisfies our desires and best serves our needs. If one chose the truth, they would walk in its way even if it was against their own interests. There is no profit in truth, the truth is the profit by itself. It is satisfying without anything.

This satisfaction comes from that this truth, resides in us. We are a part of the truth, this is why it rejoices when it meets itself.

So from a profit oriented perspective, then, yes, everything is relative.

Comment on 2019-09-29:

The phrase "We are all on the brink of despair all we can do is look each other in the face, keep each other's company, joke a little.. Don't you agree?" from La Grande Bellezza movie is very hopeless. It is inherently materialistic, void of hope and it implicitly denies existence. Today, I vehemently oppose it. When I liked it, I did not understand what it meant. But I do now.