Thinking and truth are two major determinants in making people and societies better informed. Thinking makes people acquire new knowledge while reality makes the same individuals have the right understanding of issues, situations or aspects of life. Clear thinking just like the truth has to be subjected to various thresholds for it to be clear from if enlightenment. Various philosophers have established different ways by which truth and thinking can be made more efficient in making the society informed. The knowledge gained through thinking goes a long way in transforming an individual's understanding. Philosophers have established various ways through which both reflection and truth ought to be validated. The three tests for truth are presented by different scholars are correspondence, coherence, and practical trials . Similarly, for thinking of current students have established steps through which thinking has to go through to come up with a refined form of thinking. The steps are, starting by making assumptions about an idea, the deducting on the notion issues that do not relate to it as desired. Then collecting evidence and inducing possible truth from the thinking.
Logics differentiates good thinking from wrong thinking. Good thinking is whereby conclusions being made are in line with the assumptions that might have been made earlier and the reasoning being good. Secondly, the conclusions might be true if the argument evidence is correct. Deductive reasoning starts with certain assumptions and shows what must be true if the assumptions made are valid. The logic then proceeds inductive analysis where evidence is collected and possible or probable conclusions given based on the available evidence. In testing the correct of truth, the philosopher has provided three steps to guide the process. Truth has been said to be influenced by faith, evidence, and presuppositions people make while reasoning. A claim can be considered true or false by comparing it against the what can be observed around a place or situation. Correspondence of truth is when what is being observed relates to the claim being scrutinized . The second step involves making a decision on whether the claim makes sense within the context of the situation and the comparison being made . Lastly, the idea is tested to establish whether it can work within the context or not. Pragmatic Test truth is the most widely accepted means of affirming an idea.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Understanding of both how to reason correctly and determine if statement is right is critical in ensuring the advancement of human knowledge . To apparently take a claim as truth or correct reasoning is a voluntary process that can not be imposed on anyone minds. Any attempt to dictate the claims on and individual always fails to materialize. Conviction begins with the mind, and it is what informs the later steps whether physical or mental. Various fallacies exist about logic. The fallacy of an appeal to force comments that attempt of making a person accept a claim by resorting to force always fails to fulfill the purpose. The fallacy of recourse of further emotion States argues that the correctness of a claim logically may not meet the claim is emotionally considerate. A variance between emotions and truth does exist. The fallacy of subjectivism argues that something is not true or false logically because of one's wants over the claim to be true or false.
The Bible plays a bigger role in defining how people think and relates to truth. The Bible holds higher authority than human reasoning or experience. When reasoning or thinking the Bible immediately comes to mind especially to Christian who believe in the Bible . Christians confess legitimate role the following three distinct sources of truth. The sources are the scripture, the institution of the church and the Holy Spirit. Christian have different levels of acknowledging the various levels of importance each concept has in shaping their understanding and acceptance of truth about what they experience through life and what they think. For example, the Catholics and the Orthodox traditions strongly affirm the authority if the scripture even though some people do not consider them as believing on the scriptures. There exists a difference in the sense that the church as they understand is reliable in guiding which interpretation of the Bible is corrected . In the same way, Pentecostal churches put much emphasis on direct revelation from the Holy Spirit. The revelations are believed to be communicated when a Christian reads the word of God. Lastly, even a scripture only tradition, for example, the reformed churches recognize the role the Holy Spirit and the church play in confirming followers get to understand better how to apply the Bible correctly.
Truth and reasoning are to some extent influenced by experience . Various philosophers have argued on reason or experience is the dominant path tot truth. Some scholars have argued that both a critical and important as they help compliment each other. Knowledge begins with experience. Human beings quest for knowledge is stimulated into actions to seek the information. With time, human begins have ni knowledge before going through a situation. Consequently, thinking which is limited to physical structures is nor a direct derivative of experience. It has been established there are elements of thought that exist in mind before experience. There must be something in people mind that makes sense to human experience connecting them to one another to make a meaningful concept.
Many philosophers have written about reasoning and truth. Immanuel Kant is one such scholar from Russia who has written a lot about thinking and reality . Emmanuel’s written articles titled the critique of pure reason explores any aspect of reflection and reality and how the two are related and shaping human beings understanding. Kant uses various approaches to examine people understanding of truth and reasoning. To explain the structure of man's thinking, how man synthesis information in mind the philosopher suggested that the human brain functioned curtained predetermined influences determined by aspects like space, time, cause and effect. Emmanuel believed that the structures existed naturally by which man understands the issues they consider transcendent. Emmanuel found that the aspects under which we understand the environment and issues around us are universally true. Similarly, Kant thought the categories of reasoning and thinking are imposed on the human mind by the mind manipulating the data received by the sensory organs of the body. Kant’s statements seem to affirm that he believed the mind constructs reality while rejecting the claiming the reasoning and the truth are universally acceptable. Furthermore , Kant argues that beliefs such as believing in God, believing in the existence of the soul and human liberty influenced human being ability to think and discern the truth from various aspects of life. Kant believed that the human mind was created with a predetermined mode of functioning that relates together different factors before deciding on the course of action on how to thinking about the truth and reasoning.
Another philosopher who made a great contribution to explaining truth and thinking is Plato. Plato suggested that the world around a person plays a critical role in helping a person discern truth. He argued that reasoning and truth are influenced by the environment a person exists . Plato believed the mind was connected to the soul therefore before a judgment was made on how to think or whether to consider a statement to be true or false, the mind would communicate to the man who will already be having a decision as it will have interacted with the issue before it came to the mind. Plato concludes that reasoning exists within the human mind and it is not invoked from outside. The act of thinking is only trying to bring out what is already inside us and not integrating with what exist around us with our minds.
The arguments advanced by both philosophers are correct to some extent. They both overlap each other in creating a common and accepted standard. Aspects of nature play a critical role in shaping human beings perception about truth and thinking. To some extent human reasoning and clarity of truth is influenced their environment as explained by Emmanuel Kant. Similarly, Plato idea of our thoughts and believing in truth is internal can be accepted in certain spheres of human life. Situations that people are informed by natural instinct are cases of reasoning and fact being inseparable to people understanding.
Thinking and truth have a great impact on the functioning if the human mind. Decisions being made and the validity of the thought to behave in a certain way are greatly influenced by the mind . The human brain's ability to think correctly and make correct judgments is dependent on human instinct and the environment around us. People quest to be more informed basing on reasoning and truth is thus justifiable. The two hold the ability to influence intellectual advancement and make man better informed and be able to make decisions that have a legitimate basing.
References
Hardin, S. (2012). Rethinking standpoint epistemology: What is strong objectivity? The Centennial Review , 437-470.
Kenneth, S. (2014). A Christian Philosophical Journey. Pennsylvania: Triangle Publishing.
