Relativism

I have to say that when I first began reading this book, I thought of myself as leaning toward the relativist perspective of truth that Lynch discusses in Chapter three. I think this is because I tend not to think of things in black and white but try to always look at the gray. The idea that there was this concrete truth about everything out in the world somewhere went against this. When Lynch first began to discuss the arguments of relativists at the beginning of the chapter, I liked most of what was being said. That he compared each person's perspective to having a veil drawn over his or her view of the world made sense. We can never fully see out of anyone's eyes but our own, so our perception is always colored. 

Still, after all this, I started to think about things that I feel I "know" to be true. I feel like I know the sky is blue and I really cannot see this being relative, unless I am colorblind or what I think is blue is not what blue really is. This seems unlikely. Then, once I got to the end of the chapter and Lynch remarked, "Truth doesn't always come in the same form," it all seemed to click. As far as I understand, Lynch is not throwing relativism out, but he is not saying it is the rule either. He addresses, finally, that there are different types of truths. There is a difference between truths of the physical world and those of our human-made world, as he puts it. I still think that truth is a concept near to impossible to pin down, but this distinction seems to make it clearer.

Another idea I found interesting that shows up in both chapters two and three is the concept that certainty is not necessary for truth. I have noticed while reading this book that language often gets in the way of what is being discussed. I think most of us have previously thought that certainty and truth go hand in hand, but it seems that Lynch is trying to separate them. His statement, "We can therefore pursue what is true without trying to aim at absolute certainty," reminds me of another quote, "Happiness is a journey not a place." While happiness and truth are completely different ideas, I feel like truth can still be inserted into this statement and it seems to describe what Lynch is saying. If we look at truth as a destination, then we will always be let down because we can never be certain that we will get there. If we see the search for truth as more of an ongoing process, then we can continuously strive for truth and become closer and closer.