Perspectives on the World : Truth With and Without Self-Understanding

Abstract

In this thesis I explore the idea that our relationship to the world consists of forms of engaging with the world. The idea is a contrast to the belief that we are independent of the reality we describe, and that truth is like an accurate picture of the world. This topic is inspired by a similar contrast in Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations. In his book, Wittgenstein discusses different ways in which an effort to search for the meaning of concepts in corresponding object leads to confusions. In a similar manner, I discuss what role meaning plays in our relationship to reality. I begin by discussing how meaning is intrinsic to the practice of philosophy as an inquiry about the nature of our relationship to reality. I do this by describing the philosophy of Socrates the way that it appears in Plato’s dialogue Apologia. I show that the Socratic notion of human wisdom entails understanding of the meaning of the claims that one makes, and that without an understanding of meaning, our claims about the world risk becoming what is called “divine wisdom”. I proceed to discuss meaningful descriptions of reality in relation to the philosophy of Winch. Winch develops Wittgenstein’s idea of following a rule to include social practices. According to this view, meaningful human behaviour consists of following rules. These rules, in turn, create social practices. The central claim in this section is that the descriptions of social practices also work as descriptions of perspectives we take on the world. The perspectives are defined in the thesis as forms of engaging with the world. In other words, in describing social practices, we also describe the logical forms that our relationship to the world can take. Finally, I discuss how a failure to appreciate our relationship to the world as forms of engagement can lead to a distorted idea of reality. I discuss some examples where these failures are shown. Among these are an example from Kierkegaard and a news article from the Finnish news paper Iltalehti. The thesis is aimed at showing, that an understanding of the ways in which we engage with the world, is a form of self-understanding. In Concluding Reflections, I suggest that one broader implication of the thesis is that the desire for certainty in relation to truth can be understood as an existential desire for safety. This subject matter could not be investigated in this thesis and is left for further research.