ON TRUTH: KNOWLEDGE AND LOGIC

 

ON TRUTH: KNOWLEDGE AND LOGIC

(MYKE IAN A. HECHANOVA)

“What can we know?”

 “How do we know?”

One of the difficulties we have is whether we just believe or really know. We must have an understanding of how the world affects us in order to understand whether we know. There must also be a foundation for knowledge. All these questions are the basic ones before inquiring the Truth.  Isn’t it logical or illogical? How do we know that we know? This may sound epistemic but, this is the fundamental process to validate a certain argument through the use of critical thinking.

Reflecting upon these points. I am brought to inquire of what the world we have right now in terms of logical reasoning or how does syllogism works in the realm of the current generation particularly, on my beliefs? Do my beliefs indeed lead me to the Truth? Or are they merely there so I would have my basis for my decisions and actions? I am not employing a Cartesian style of inquiry (i.e. Methodic Doubt) on my beliefs though. I may be concerned of the foundation of my beliefs, but I do not necessarily cast my doubts on them. One of my beliefs that I would like to inquire on is my belief in God.

With my Catholic upbringing, my parents taught me to pray and do well. However, I do not really remember them telling me directly to ‘believe’ in God. At Church, I profess my faith and at an early age I was able to memorize the Apostle’s Creed. But, I did not undergo any proper catechism only until I started becoming interested in matters of faith when I became an Altar Server and in NDMU. The words I memorized were then imbedded to my heart. Only then that these words made so much sense.

With this, I realized that my belief in God is made possible by the system (a Catholic system). My belief in God may be a system-dependent belief. Thanks to reading, catechism, and education, I am more and more becoming engrossed on this belief.

Going back to the path to the Truth, I am also convinced that my belief in God could lead me to the Truth. The Scriptures tells us that God Himself is the Truth. I have remembered the three distinctions of philosophy, science, and theology. Well, in terms of beliefs, philosophy would tell us more likely of theories about God. The medieval period is one of the interesting era that will discuss the Prime Mover or the Uncaused-cause pioneered by St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. In other words, philosophy will only tell speculations of God’s existence through natural phenomena. Like for example, the narrative of creation. Meanwhile, science would talk about practical matters. The existence of something must abide a strong evident facts in order for it to be reliable enough. That is what science do. As they say, as science advances, religion retreats. Well, speaking of God’s existence, theology deals with supernatural phenomenon. Faith, therefore, is injected with the belief nor science do. It is a combination of both theories and sciences or the practical matters.

Relating this to Metaphysics perspective, I am reminded of the transcendental properties of being. Being is said to be one, true, good, and beautiful. We see that in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, God is considered as the truth, goodness, and beauty. As God Himself is Truth, my belief in Him could lead me to Truth itself.

Going back to the questions above, I am confronted by the query, “How do I know this?” Am I just to believe that this is so because it is what the system teaches? I am tempted to simply respond to this question with ‘faith’. But, there is something inside me that makes me restless if I just become contented with my faith. Here, I am reminded of St. Anselm’s motto: fides quaerens intellectum, that is, “faith seeking understanding”. This means something like “an active love of God seeking a deeper knowledge of God.” When confronted with the question on how I came up with my knowledge (albeit not absolute and complete) about God, I am then compelled to say ‘faith and love’. This may not be that appealing especially nowadays, as most would want empirical evidences or something that is explicit and evident.

Faith and love may not sound so ‘epistemic’, but for me they have certain impact when it comes to explaining belief. With this, I am also reminded by Blaise Pascal. He posited that the heart is our faculty to the Infinite. Faith and love, I would believe, are products of our heart. I think that it is our heart that has the answers for our questions about God, but finite as we are, we could not possibly comprehend all the answers.

            Indeed, acquiring knowledge may brought us into logical argumentation and good reasoning to the beliefs that we are trying to justify with. Theology is not a fond of practical answers but of supernatural phenomena. However, for me, faith is sufficient enough to explain my beliefs on the Prime Mover that governs everything. Thus, a logical argumentation not to question its existence.