On this we agree.Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑February 12th, 2020, 7:14 am I can only clarify my own position; others will answer for themselves, as they choose. But here goes.
From Descartes' cogito, any one of us can conclude that something has actual existence. Thus Objective Reality exists, and this something is all or part of it. I believe that this is the one and only Objective Truth that any human can knowingly possess.
When I mentioned your name, I remembered your arguments around the lines of it being impossible to be certain what is true. Steve's question put me on the spot,, I assume it was to see if his name would come up on the "list". So I can see how your position is different from what I stated in my op.All else concerning the nature, structure or content of Objective Reality is, and must remain, unknown to us.
This is very far from saying this:Objective Reality must exist, I think. But that's it as regards Objective Truth, Objective Knowledge and humans. My position is very much not as @Prof Bulani describes it.Prof Bulani wrote: ↑February 9th, 2020, 6:53 am ...objective reality doesn't exist, or that it is elusive to the point where we can never be sure it exists.
With that said, the argument that we can never know objective truth needs a bit of qualification. We can know, for example, that the chair we are sitting on objectively exists in reality, and isn't a construct of your mind, with a high degree of certainty. I don't imagine that you go around doubting the objective existence of things like chairs and food, maintaining suspicion of their objective existence. Operating from such a paradigm would be detrimental to your survival, and organisms that may have a tendency to operate this way would be selected for extinction. Thus we have a compelling case for the notion that objective reality not only exists, but can be known with certainty via our senses and perception.
Perhaps we can refer to it as a theory of objective truth?
As I explained above, I disagree. To assert that human truths can never be objective requires knowledge of all human knowledge, knowledge of all objective truth, the capacity to evaluate that each instance human knowledge is incongruent with each instance of object truth it maps to, and knowledge of all possible future cases of human knowledge, objective truths and congruence evaluations. If this is not you, you are in no position to make such an assertion. If this is you, you are contradicting yourself.Of this I am unsure. But I am happy to assert it the other way round: Human truths can never be Objective, except as described above. In other words, no 'truth' can claim the authority and certainty that Objectivity brings with it. Because no truth can be shown to correspond with that which actually is.