Reality, Truths and Beliefs

A detailed Summary of Reality, Truths and Beliefs

Premise 1: Different individuals and cultures, at different times hold widely varying and sometimes contradictory beliefs about what's real and what's true. No truths are common to all individuals or cultures.

Explantion: The first part of this premise is true. It is a propositional belief that can be tested and proven true. People do, in fact, hold different beliefs about truths and reality, but what is actually true and what is actually real is universal and objective to all individuals and cultures. People that develop in different cognizable worlds will naturally hold different beliefs about what is true and real on the basis of experiences, opinions, and truths in which they have been previously exposed to. These beliefs can only differ when the truth being questioned has been recognized or conceived by an individual or culture. Any existing thing (whether it be social constructions or tangible pieces of matter) that is conceived causes an immediate opinion or belief about that thing to be formed subconsciously. Though one's belief about a truth may differ from another's, it does not mean that the actual reality of the truth varies. There are things that are undeniably real and true to every individual no matter

what opinion is imposed on it. Bohstedt supports that things such as matter and social constructions are undeniably real. Objects of matter such as land and water, and social constructions such as the national debt and marriage cannot be denied truth, reality, or existence. To illustrate this claim, I will refer to Christopher Columbus. Suppose that on his voyage to discover new land, he heard his ship mate cry out "Land ahead!"(considering the words pertain to the proper meaning and usage of the language of that time). Columbus had not seen land in years. He gazes ahead at the land, but chooses to deny its reality on the premises of his prior surroundings and experiences. He ignored the claim and ordered his crew to continue sailing in the same path. Suddenly the ship jolted, and it could sail no further. The ship had hit land! No matter the beliefs and opinions that Columbus had formed about the land, rational or irrational, the physical being of the land held reality and truth of its own existence. This truth pertains to everyone, objectively.

Why does the word "truths" need replacement? To start, a truth is not what one accepts as true, that would be a belief. A truth is something that is in agreement with fact or reality, and reality relates to fixed or immovable things such as land. There are objective truths that cannot be denied; they can only be interpreted and believed differently.

Explanation: Before evaluating this whole premise, we need to resurrect the question, "what is true?" I concluded earlier that each individual and each culture can hold their own different beliefs about what is true and what is real, but beliefs are faith-based and do not provide adequate evidence to support them. We need something more concrete, a truth that is not subject to change. Matter and social constructions are perfect candidates. These actual truths are existent to everyone no matter what opinions have been formed about them. What is true must agree with and depend solely on fact and reality. It is irrelevant what an individual or society perceives the truth to be. What is true does not change with people's beliefs and opinions. As I said before, just because Christopher Columbus did not believe that there was land ahead of h

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Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

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