[MD] Julian Baggini: This is what the clash of civilisations is really about

[david]

Is it pragmatic to mythologize an absolute? 

No, certainly not. The purpose of pragmatism is to distinguish real questions and real problems from meaningless metaphysical disputes. Similarly, James' radical empiricism is built to keep out all such metaphysical fictions. In fact, pragmatism is an alternative theory of truth, one that is meant to replace the notions of Truth as objective, singular, eternal, absolute, etc.. In terms of practical effects, the belief in such things is inconsequential or even negative. For James, we can decide what to believe based on our passions, our feelings, but only in very special circumstances, when a decision must be made but cannot be decided on the basis of evidence. This ethical dimension of belief is almost universally recognized; math and logic guys like Bertrand Russell agree with Buddha and the Dali Lama that it is unethical or even taboo to believe without evidence. 


And that's why it totally matters whether there is any absolute truth or not, why we can not just believe it because we have a thirst and wish it were true. And if the argument is right, that absolute or objective truth is an incoherent idea that is impossible to ever verify or cash out, and you just decide to believe it anyway,.. well then I guess you don't really care about truth after all. Like Pirsig says, empirical reality keeps us from fooling ourselves, keeps us honest. That's where beliefs are tested, where they're made into truth or falsity. And that's what we can never do with metaphysical posits like the Will or the Absolute. Like I said, the whole idea is epistemologically impossible. It's like basing all the currency on the gold standard even though no actually gold has ever been seen by anyone by only logically inferred from the need for such standards. It's simply too incoherent to be taken seriously. 



Quality isn't like that. The term refers to direct experience. You don't have to believe in it or prop it up into a metaphysical chess piece. 


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John Carl said:

The question isn't whether there is any absolute truth, the question is whether its pragmatic to mythologize such an absolute.



Ron commented:
> Interesting honest question John,
> I wrestle with this one constantly.
> After 2000 years it has it's consequences, but having been raised in it, it fulfills a sacred desire.
> Therefore I am constantly drawn to it and the goal of resolving reason and religious belief with the maturity of embracing the raw horror of the unknown.
> I have my days where I prefer one over the other to be Honest.
> http://moq.org/md/archives.html