Is there such thing as an absolute truth?
“There is no truth. There is only perception” claimed Gustave Flaubert. He’s suggesting that truth cannot be absolute, and it is only a concept that is shaped by our individual perception. If there is no truth and there is only perception, how can you be sure that that statement is true? This belief of no absolute truth, no objective truth creates a paradox and a self-defeating argument.
Here are some truths about truth according to Frank Turek and Norman Geisler: “Truth is unchanging, even though our beliefs about truth change. All truths are absolute truths. Even truths that appear to be relative are really absolute. Contrary beliefs are possible, contrary truths are not possible. Truth is discovered, not invented. It exists independent of anyone’s knowledge about it. Truth is transcultural. If something is true, it’s true for all people, at all times, in all places.”
So the question is how can we know if something really is true? Through examination, evaluation, history, and evidence. Let’s take a look at some universal truths: The sun rises in the East and sets in the West. The earth revolves around the sun. Humans are mortal. Changing is nature’s law. Sun gives us light. If anyone were to say that there is no absolute truth, they would deny these things. You might as well ask them to jump off a building if they don’t absolutely know they would die.
The Law of Noncontradiction states contradictory propositions cannot both be true in the same sense at the same time, and the Law of Excluded Middle states that every statement is either true or false, there is no middle. According to these laws whether someone likes it or not, whether they believe it or not, the truth remains the same regardless of their personal feelings, beliefs, convictions. Seems logical enough, right? Claiming there is no truth is otherwise known as denialism. People that don’t recognize that there is an absolute truth deny their own existence, reality, common sense, and logic. Truth exists and always will. Perception does not replace truth. Without truth, none of us would be here.