Beyond objectivism : an exploration in the epistemology and philosophy of science of Michael Polanyi and its relevance to truth claims in religion and ethics.
Year: 2010
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Absolute truth claims are problematic in a pluralist society such as South Africa. Yet a tolerant society must move beyond relativism (2.1.1) and recognize that certain moral imperatives, such as tolerance and mutual respect, must be universally true (2.1.2). This chapter first defines what was understood by absolute truth claims and the problems that resulted from the idea of the absolute (2.2.1). We formulate the research question (2.2.2). We then trace the history of the idea of absolute truth from its roots in ancient times to its heydays in modernist scientific thought and argue that evangelicals in the nineteenth century adopted the notion of absolute truth into their doctrines with a number of disastrous results (2.3.3). We conclude with a number of remarks on social constructivism (2.4) 2.1 Rationale of the study This thesis is an exploration into the nature of truth, and particularly of religious truth. The 20 century has witnessed the view of truth change from the stark objectivism of the analytical philosophers to the floating relativism of the postmodernists, where truth forever recedes beyond reach. Far apart as these epistemologies may seem, they agree on one point, however: they leave little space for religious and moral truth claims. Such claims are quickly relegated to the sphere of personal preferences, where they have no public consequences. This, however, does not imply that our postmodern society is not a moral society, but rather that moral imperatives are not given their true status as moral imperatives, but rather surface elsewhere, for instance as scientific propositions (see chapter 5).
Author: Daan. Den Hollander
Language: English
Subfield: Philosophy
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1736495745