If you would capitalize “Truth” then as a Christian I have an answer. As a Christian I believe there are absolutes and they are found in Jesus who said,
(John 14:6 KJV) Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.If you are dealing with the wider philosophical question of truth, it gets murky.
This comes to mind because as I age and the people around me age I am seeing frequent examples of incongruity or what psychology calls cognitive dissonance. People relate events that we have in common and what I am hearing does not correspond with what my memory tells me. An example would be conversations with my wife which lead me to tell my children that either one or both of us is losing it. But she is not alone. I would imagine that others feel the same way around me.
So, what is the nature of truth?
We are all familiar with the chant of the those with Bushpobia, “Bush lied; people died.” That statement in itself is a lie that led to deaths. Bush may have been wrong. He might have been misinformed. I guess he might have even been living in delusion. The one option not open was calling him a liar. He spoke what he believed to be true. He repeated what he had been told and what even his political opponents endorsed at the time. That is not lying.
Is it a lie if your best information and memory lead you to say something that does not correspond to the facts? I would say, “No.” It might not be true, but it is not lying. It might even be a lie but the act was not lying. Lying requires volition. It requires intent. Any other definition means that most of us lie frequently every day.
Perhaps that is why the Bible states it the way it does.
(Exodus 20:16 KJV) Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
It does not say be “wrong”. It says to be “false”.
Our tendency is to label our opponents liars and stand up for our allies when they act the same way. That in itself can be a form of lying.
People of good will should accept that we are all human. We should condemn the politicians and news reporters who deliberately spin, exaggerate, doctor and edit what they say with a deliberate goal of deception. We should expose and forgive honest mistakes and ignorance.
What we need are more people of good will who want to know the truth.
homo unius libri
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Comments are welcome. Feel free to agree or disagree but keep it clean, courteous and short. I heard some shorthand on a podcast: TLDR, Too long, didn't read.