Theories of Truth: Philosophy

Theories of Truth

• Correspondence Theory: Truth corresponds to facts and reality
• Coherence Theory: Truth agrees with other propositions and knowledge
• Pragmatic Theory: Truth yields satisfactory practical results and serves purposes

Correspondence Theory of Truth

• Truth aligns with factual information
• Truth is understood as it relates to reality
• A factually truthful statement is considered truth

Coherence Theory of Truth

• Propositions are true when they align with other propositions
• Coherence is often consistency
• Truth coheares with the remainder of what is known

Pragmatic Theory of Truth

• Propositions are true when their application yields favorable practical outcomes
• The truth of a belief relies on how well human nature is satisfied over time
• Truth equates to what is functional or beneficial

Spirituality and Truth

• Being rational involves continuous questioning
• Seeking origin and purpose is part of the human experience
• True spirituality depends on knowing the essence of God

Understanding Spirituality

• General awareness of having a soul and acting in accordance
• Christian viewpoint centers on friendship with Christ, which leads to holiness
• Catholicism involves living out baptismal promises

Aim of Spirituality

• To become fully human and united with the divine
• Facilitates understanding, perseverance, and patience

Authentic Catholic Spirituality

• Religion and spirituality are intimately connected
• Rules and relationships are intrinsically linked
• Revelation is acknowledged as a way to connect with God
• Conformity to the Word of God is essential for spirituality

Relativism

• There are no permanent or universal truths
• Truths depend on individual, popular opinion, and societal influences instead of objective bases such as the Word of God
• All opinions are valid, even if contradictory, resulting in the absence of permanent standards in a relativist society
• Those who disagree with relativism are deemed dogmatic, arrogant, or intolerant

Descriptive and Metaethical Relativism

• Descriptive Relativism: Different moral standards can be observed
• Metaethical Relativism: Universal or extra-cultural moral truths do not exist

Normative Relativism

• Encourages a "live and let live" mentality
• A relativist society does not have standards
• Truth is changeable as individual mindsets vary

Crisis of Relativism

• Clear faith based is often labelled as fundamentalism
• Relativism results in ego-centric focus

Impact of Relativism on Faith and Morals

• Relativism in Faith: No absolute Truth, Jesus is one of many religious figures, and God cannot be contained in one person (Jesus)
• Cafeteria Catholicism: Individuals pick and choose Church teachings
• Relativism in Morals: All actions are considered okay; there is only a "relatively better" action

Practical Relativism

• Self-centered, self-indulgent that focuses on convenience and material security
• Includes hoarding wealth, acting as if God and the poor don't exist

Truth from the Heart of the Gospel (Thomas Aquinas)

• Truth aligns with both intellect and its referent
• Aspects of truth are being logically truthful, being morally truthful, and ontological truth

Truth and Veritas

• Truth became personified through Jesus Christ
• All things are connected so that all things hold together

Conveying Truth Effectively

• Involves genuine love for one’s target audience
• Avoids saturation with doctrines
• Appeals by way of beauty rather than simple delivery

Theories of Happiness

• Hedonism: Pleasure (sensual pleasure) is the ultimate goal
• Utilitarianism: Focuses on usefulness
• Consumerism: Focuses on consuming materials

Hedonism

• Pleasure is the ultimate goal of life
• It's a devotion to pleasure and self-gratification as a way of life
• Promoted through advertising
• Entrails a crisis of "Throw-away Culture"

Throw-away Culture Indicators

• Disposable, replaceable, or temporary and is made clear through landfills and abandoned dreams
• Overuse of resources
• Contraception and abortion practices
• Abandonment of the elderly and the handicapped
• Discarding relationships

The Throw Away Culture

• Leads to social and environmental degradation
• Promotes the idea that people are disposable

Narcissism

• Makes people incapable of looking beyond their own desires and needs
• Reject support

Spirituality of Mercy

• Spirit-filled movement of the heart to be merciful
• Calls for both corporal and spiritual actions of mercy

Mercy as a Vocation

• Holistic and includes natural world and non-human creatures as well

Throwaway Culture

• Wastes materials
• Excludes and discards people

Antidote to Counteracting Throwaway Culture

• practicing mercy,
• having responsible consumption,
• creating a culture of solidarity, and
• creating Culture of Encounter - active concern for the poor, the weak, and the vulnerable

Obstacles to Being Merciful

• Self-centeredness
• Self-pity
• Pride
• Selfishness.

Mercy

• The greatest "relative" characteristic of God
• God does not need to show mercy becuase God is “the greatest relative” characteristic of GOD

Mercy

• Human mercy is based on a "defect" in nature concerning human vulnerability to suffering
• 3 Kinds of Human Misery include
  • Suffering against natural appetite,
  • Unexpected suffering,
  • Suffering from consistently pursuing good but facing evil

Aspects of Mercy

• Feeling and emotion - affective mercy
• A positive action - effective mercy

Hallmarks of Effective Mercy

• Reason
• Action

Spirituality of Mercy and Addressing the Throw-Away Culture

• Follow fellow human beings, especially the poor and our nature/environment/our planet
• Human beings are considered consumer goods to be used and then discarded
• Excluded are now the outcast and the leftovers

Throw-Away Culture vs. Culture of Mercy

• Throw-Away Culture is Sawà and includes
• Objectification
• Consumption
• Maximization
• Disposal
• Culture of Mercy is Awâ and includes
• Contemplation
• Compassion
• Care
• Communion

Living "The Primacy of Mercy"

• "Care" rather than "stewardship
• Shift from duty-based ethics to virtue-based ethics

Spirituality of Communion

• Individualism is a major threat to communion

Individualism

• Is a Supreme doctrine
• Where all is to originate
• Where the single person is more than the group
• Has caused an issue that makes being dependent upon others shameful or embarrassing

Crisis of Individualism

• Depending of others can be considered shameful
• Individuals are self-reliant
• Causes neglect for the common good

Characteristics of Individualism

• Prevents human beings from developing a sense of mission and heroism
• Makes all humans rivals to each other
• Is a risk and connects to a self-centered culture of instant gratification

Consequences of Individualism

• Isolates human fulfillment
• Harms relationships

Extreme Individualism

• Leads to ideas that personality is often shaped desires, which are considered absolute
• Results in a loss of a sense of solidarity and responsibility for others

Personalism

• Personalism can foster attitudes of constant suspicion, fear of commitment
• Is a freedom of choice that lacks goals degenerates

Antidote to Individualism

• Is a communion which promotes and reinforces bonds and sharing

Humans

• From the onset, God willed human beings to live in communion with Him

Salvation

• Saved first from following Isrealites
• God's instrument is The Church

Communion of Life

• Blood and water flowed out from Jesus
• Husband loves wife
• Includes vertical and horizontal communion

Communion in the life of the Holy

• Includes reception
• Sacrament
• Union with Christ

Characteristics of the Catholic community

• Professing the true Christian faith
• Especially living under the same vicar on earth
• Under the government of legitimate pastors

Communion with Others

• Requires Hierarchical Order
• Requires sacraments

What is required to be "militant" or part of god's army?

• Those on Earth:
• Those still fighting against sin and error:

The church under community

• Is called to build community in the world.
• Dignity is important because individuals have an inherent worth and dignity

All of earth's elements are the same as God's

• Origin
• Destiny
• Radically unequal

Common Good

• Is the complete development of all the people of the world.
• Sum total of conditions, whereby people have perfection

Solidarity

• Responsibility
• View of the interconnectedness of people
• Commitment to the common good.

Dialogue with Cultures

• The Internet increases Globalization and a global village
• Which accelerates consciousness

Dialogue can define

• A discussion between two or more people
• Dialogue of salvation
• Recognizing it as mission

Culture

• "Dialogue and Proclamation" requires communion and commonaloties
• "Dialogue and Proclamation" requires attitude
• Triple dialigoue with religion and the poor

Culture as defined by Asia and the Philippines

• Latin verb colere is to inhabit
• “Culture is a social group which reflects the physical environment."

Aspects of what impacts culture

• How people eat, speak, and think are some of the ways we can understand culture
• Is a partially conscious that the older generation invited."

Aspects of Culture according to Standaert

• First it is through action
• Second, is symbol
• Third level is that it is always changing

Culture Characteristics

• Culture is symbolic
• All encompassing
• Culture gives human needs

Ethical and Cultural Relativism

• One must accommodate rather than enforce belief
• Migrations are bringing a more multiculturality and multireligiosity
• Asia is an important origin for people

Concepts of variability

• There are ethnocentrism issues
• The gospel needs to be incultured

Gospel and Culture

• culture often reflects the behavior and belief system community
• A people receives the Word, makes it the principle of their life, values, attitudes and aspirations
• Cultures integrate so that communities gain a new identity,

Human Development through God

• Human and world flourishing are the goals of culture where
• Is a work of evangelization to carry goodness

Inculturation

• Elements which add more flavor while having the main "course"
• God is not afraid of using cultures to communicate with us

Globalization and Communion

• While multiculturality and cross-culturality content themselves of a culture one seeks out what's in common
• Evangelization needs to be an integration, not an imposition

Why we need to dialogue with people from other religions

• The purpose of dialogue is to learn how to grow
• Needs to be a two-sided project
• Participants need to come with honesty

Rules of Interfaith Communication

• Do not compare your ideals with your partner
• Define yourself
• Communicate
• Do not assert agreement

Characteristics of Dialogue

• Dialogue only take place place only between equals
• Dialogue can only be a basis of mutual trust
• Needs to be minimally self-critical
• Experience from Within

What happens when people migrate with religion?

• Multi-migration
• Is the heart of of culture

Dialogue:

• Is intentional
• Occurs both with non-Jews and non-Samaritans
• Divine cannot be limited

Dialogue Statistics:

• Poor, need help
• Catholic church preaches poverty

Poor as Objects

• For Paul VI Evangelization is integral liberation
• Must provide liberation from hardship

Dialogue as Mission

• Requires face to face relationship
• "Church bruised, hurting and dirty"