Principles: The True

In some circles today, "truth" is a dirty word. It's seen as an attempt to impose some arbitrary ideology, or to restrict some freedom. In other circles, "truth" is celebrated, but unrecognizable as the classical notion of truth. You have your truth, and I have mine, and there is no real relationship between your truth and my truth -- but we can celebrate the diversity of truths!

But Truth is one of the foundations of basic common sense living. We say something is true when it is the same in our mind as it is in reality. Truth is a recognition of what is real and what is not. To deny or to relativize truth is simply to deny that we have a connection to the real world.

Now, to hold that there is Truth, and that we can know it, doesn't mean that we always recognize it perfectly. The progress of various sciences show us that the truth about physics (for example) can be learned more, and more perfectly, as we continue to study the world around us. In fact, the quest for a deeper knowledge of the truth is the whole basis for discussion and debate: we start by seeking the truth about some topic, and recognize that each of us sees that truth differently; so we search out contradictions and differences in order to come to a fuller knowledge of what is true.

And this works in human relationships -- even political relationships -- as well as in natural science. After all, there must be some common thing that makes us all human, and some common thread that defines our relationship. To search out the truth about being human in relationship will bring us to better relationships with each other. And, perhaps more obviously, it really matters what is the truth about the economic situation of some town, or the military capacity of some foreign power.

In every situation, whether personal or political, the foundational question is: what is true here and now? We just can't move forward without answering that question.