WHAT IS TRUTH, KNOWLEDGE, OPINION AND WHY IS EXTREME SKEPTICISM?
What is Truth, Knowledge, Opinion and why Extreme Skepticism is Self Contradictory?
Truth is simply the mind corresponding with reality, knowledge is having the truth and knowing that you have it and understanding why it is true, Opinion is having an hypothesis but not being entirely sure that your idea is true and extreme skepticism is self contradictory because skeptics say that there is truth “that there is no truth”. By doing this they are making a true statement. In this essay we shall discuss a more deeper and in-depth meaning truth, knowledge, opinion and why extreme skepticism is self-contradictory.
What is truth? Truth is basically the mind corresponding with reality. This of course is the easy problem of truth; the hard problem is the mind trying to know reality.
So we see “truth is connected to knowledge”. True ideas are those that we can corroborate and verify. Truth works in way of our thinking. So you see to achieve complete truth there must be correspondence between our mind and reality and to know exactly what reality really is. For example If we say “ the Auckland blues are going to win the super 12” and later on they actually win, therefore your mind did indeed correspond with reality. Through this example we see that knowing what is reality is almost impossible, if a man is completely sure that he has grasped reality he is GOD.
What is knowledge? Knowledge is the physiological result of perception and learning and reasoning. Knowledge consists of having the truth, knowing that you have it and the reason why it is true. This means that it is not something that we believe to be true, we know its true and we can prove that it is true and know why it is true. Knowledge is connected with both opinion and truth. Knowledge is connected to truth because without knowledge their cant be any truth.
Knowledge is also connected to opinion, because knowledge changes opinion to truth.
The word knowledge relates to the word to know, “to know” is to posses the truth about an idea. An example of knowledge is that “if you stick your hand in a blazing hot fire you will get burnt”. In this occasion we have the truth because we can feel the heat of the fire. We also know why it is hot because of the exothermic reaction between the combustibles (fuel) and oxygen. In this example we know that it is true, we don’t believe it to be true and why it is true. This is what makes it knowledge and not an opinion.
What is opinion? Opinion is the complete opposite of knowledge. Opinion is a personal belief or judgment that is not founded on proof or certainty. This means that opinions are those ideas that we have absolutely no proof of. All opinions are equally true and equally false. A man of right opinion cannot explain why he thinks as he does or cannot explain to others why he thinks he his opinion is right. We should base our reasoning on opinions held by all. Opinion is related to truth. An example of an opinion related to truth is saying, “that your friend stole your expensive parker pen”. At this stage it is only an idea. We shall think of it as an imaginary wall separating you from the truth. To achieve truth you must start building blocks to get over the wall. The first block could be that you feel that he is always hiding something from you. The second block could be that he acts strange during subjects; the third could be a friend telling you that he was using your pen. At this stage you are almost over the wall. Then after all you actually see him using the pen and confront him. That fourth step just gave you the leap over the wall to find out the truth. So you see that opinions start out as ideas and then develop to become truth.
Why is extreme skepticism self-contradictory? First of all we need to understand how a skeptic thinks. Skeptics think there is nothing true and nothing false, or that everything is equally true and equally false, that we are unable to know what is true and what is false and the human mind cannot comprehend truth.
Skepticism itself is self-contradictory because extreme skeptics say, “ There is no truth”. By saying this they are making a true statement. They are actually saying that it is true that there “is no truth”. This is why extreme skepticism is self-contradictory.
This essay has just discussed the true meaning of truth, knowledge, opinion and why extreme skepticism is self-contradictory. I have discussed that truth is the mind corresponding with reality (t=M R).
I have discussed opinion, which is having an idea that is not being backed up by proof or certainty. I have discussed that knowledge is having the truth and knowing why it is true. I have also discussed and explained what is extreme skepticism and why their hypothesis is self-contradictory because extreme skeptics say, “ there is no truth”. By saying this they are making a true statement. So they are actually saying that it is true “that there is not truth”. We now know an in-depth meaning of truth, knowledge, opinion and why extreme skepticism is self-contradictory.
Bibliography:
1.Adler Mortimer, How to Think About Great Ideas, Open Court Publishers, Chicago, 2000
2. Google Dictionary