Absolute truth
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Absolute truth can be interpreted in different ways based on its usage, just like truth. Some believe that the correct communication cannot be found for describing ideas of absolute truth by entities that possess the metaphysically true state of the ability to lie and have lied before, thus making the following description vulnerable to potential inaccuracy as long as those entities maintain the definition.
Absolute truth is often defined in two ways: state-truth and action-verity form.
As a state (truth)
Absolutism contends that in a particular domain of thought, all statements in that domain are either absolutely true or absolutely false: none is true for some cultures or eras while false for other cultures or eras. These statements are called absolute truths. A common reaction by those who newly criticize absolutism is the absolute truth statement: Absolute truths do not exist.
As an action (verity)
In action form, absolute truth most closely represents verity. This form can be likened to the action usage of metaphysical truth, but not its state usage (which represent metaphysical truths in state form). Absolute truth in action form is considered by many to be metaphysical only, and therefore the same as the action usage of metaphysical truth. Some believe the outcome of absolute truth (verity) can be metaphysical truths, physical truths or both, but by definition not any form of a lie. test
Examples
A particularly confusing absolute truth in state form (but good for example) is:
- Absolute truth cannot be a lie.
Some interpret this to mean:
- The outcome of absolute truth cannot be a lie.
But that refers specifically to the action form of absolute truth. Others interpret it as:
- Absolute truth statements cannot be lies.
But that refers specifically to the state form of absolute truth. The original statement can be interpreted as either the state or action form. In the state form the statement is not true, but in the action form it is true. Either way the statement is an absolute truth in state form.
A potential example of absolute truth in action form is:
- The words you are reading exist because of absolute truths in action form supporting their ability to exist.
Attentive readers will recognize the previous statement as an absolute truth in state form describing absolute truth in action form. Whether or not the statement is true is left as an exercise for the reader.