> CB: An old version of it never ending is termed the dialectic of
> absolute
> and relative truth. Absolute truth is infinite and unobtainable by us
> as
> finite beings. However, there is progress in our knowledge. The
> metaphor to
> math used is that we (humanity) approach absolute truth like an
> asymptotic
> curve approaches an asymptotic line, getting closer ever, but never
> reaching
> it. Note that there is a recognition of "relative truth" in this idea.
Along with the asymptotic curve metaphor, it should be stressed that the search for truth must be self-correcting. Since we don't have some sort of direct access to truth apart from our approach to it, there is no independent standard to show us how close we are. We simply have to trust that our methodology is such that it corrects mistakes as it goes along. This is the problem with all dogmatisms; since they never allow themselves to be changed, they a fortiori can't be self-correcting. On the other hand, the simple relativistic view, that anything anyone thinks is true is true "for them," makes the mistake of not recognizing that self-correcting methods are possible.
Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org __________________________________ Belinda: Ay, but you know we must return good for evil. Lady Brute: That may be a mistake in the translation.
-- Sir John Vanbrugh: The Provok’d Wife (1697), I.i.