Renewing the Correspondence Theory of Truth…
Beliefs and Reality
“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away”…
— Philip K Dick
“To them, I said, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images”…
― Plato, The Allegory of the Cave
What if in the third decade of the 21st Century, the renewal and extension of the relational concept of Truth could enable Humanity to exit the cul de sac of Modernity and Post-Modernity (overcoming Infinite Errors)?
The integration of Metaphysical Idealism and Epistemological Realism.
A Correspondence Theory of Truth where the notion of Truth corresponds to Reality.
An acknowledgement of:
- the distinction between the conscious beliefs of Man and the necessary being of God as the ultimate higher-order source of Reality; and
- the phenomena experienced by Man and the Primacy of Existence of the World in which Man is entangled.
A Correspondence Theory of Beliefs and Truth that provides a coherent understanding of Reality.
One that results in Man seeking Truth that spans both the divine metaphysical order and the empirical, observable world.
Combining the metaphysical with the epistemological with the physical.
A notion of Truth that is inseparable from the necessary being of God as the ultimate source of Reality, Meaning and Divine Order.
One that recognises the fallibility of Man and an incomplete subjective Kantian Truth ( William of Ockham – Nominalism ) derived from empiricism and Man’s embodiment in the Physical World.
“Science does not aim at establishing immutable Truths and eternal dogmas; its aim is to approach the Truth by successive approximations, without claiming at any stage final and complete accuracy has been achieved”…
— Bertrand Russell
A Physical World where the Observer (Man) and the Observed (Physical World) are entangled.
A World where ideas have consequences and the Correspondent Theory of Truth becomes apparent through being.
“Only a real risk tests the reality of a belief”…
— CS Lewis
A World where Beliefs and Actions both matter.
A World where the Pursuit of Truth has Practical Effects — hence the need of Man for epistemological humility and open inquiry.
A Philosophical framework that also recognises the role of Human Consciousness and Collective Consciousness in providing a high-dimensional map of meaning (Spatial Structures of Thought) including a contingent Fabric of Knowledge via a Semiotic Landscape of Abstraction.
Ideas that by their very nature are anchored in Metaphysics — the Science of Reality - the Study of Being.
The relationship between the Mind, Body and Spirit.
Emergence of Metaphysics
Aristotle’s Metaphysics (after the Physics) was one of the first major works in the history of Western Philosophy to extend the concept of Conscious Man’s understanding of Reality beyond the Physical World.
Exploring deeper questions about the Primacy of Existence, substance (“ouisa” — “to be” — “reality”), and the nature of being.
In his work, a distinction is made between form (essence of something) and matter (physical substance).
The form transcends physicality and provides meaning to matter.
It introduces the concept of Being (being qua being) which transcends the physical or non-physical nature of things.
It also introduces the concept of the Unmoved Mover — a necessary being beyond the physical world — that reflects a higher immaterial reality (akin to the theological conception of God).
The notion of essences or forms of objects existing beyond particulars enables Human Consciousness and Thought to explore abstract concepts that transcend the physical realm (i.e. beyond Science) and thereby enable Man to ask deeper theological, philosophical, and metaphysical questions about the fundamental nature of Reality and Existence.
The Development of a Triadic of Reason — Deduction (Logic — Study of Thought), Induction (Metaphysics — Study of Being) and Abduction (Semantics — Study of Meaning)
As outlined in the Triadic of Reason, the history of Western Civilisation Philosophy can be categorised into 3 major intellectual epochs that were critical to the development of our understanding of Reason:
- ~350 BC — Deductive Reasoning — Aristotle’s methodology for Deductive Reasoning and Syllogisms. A Logical System of Thought ( Term Logic — Aristotelian Logic );
- 17th Century — Inductive Reasoning — Francis Bacon’s methodology for Inductive Reasoning and Generalisations of Causal Relationships in the Natural World— Empiricism, and the Scientific Method. A combination of the Empirical and Analytical; and
- 20th Century — Abductive Reasoning — Charles Sanders Peirce’s ideas relating to Semiotics for Abductive Reasoning and revealing New Relationships of Meaning (Semiotic Triadic — Pragmatic Maxim).
The Triadic of Reason consists of Logic (Study of Thought), Metaphysics (Study of Being) and Semiotics (Study of Meaning).
When combined, the process of Reason (Abduction, Induction and Deduction) recognises that form transcends physicality and provides meaning to matter.
The triadic integration of the Physical and Metaphysical elements of Reality with Human Consciousness (understanding, meaning, and manageability).
“Metaphysics is the Science of Reality (the Study of Being) and Truth is the correspondence of one’s Beliefs to Reality”…
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Reason represents the divine essence — the power of the Logos — and thereby when integrated ( Physical and Metaphysical ) can provide Humanity with a Sense of Coherence ( comprehension, manageability and meaning).
An alignment of Human Beliefs with Reality through open inquiry, epistemological humility and a telos of the pursuit of Truth (combining Faith and Reason).
“Man possesses in himself an Agent (i.e. Reason) whose essence is Divine, and this Agent and the power (i.e. the Logos) that eternally shapes and organises the World are ontologically , or at least in their principle, one and the same, hence Reason’s aptitude at knowing the World”…
— Augusto del Noce
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