[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by davem

Does this work? What exactly does 'truth' mean in this context? Opinion? can something be considered 'true' simply because an individual believes it? .. Its equivalent to people rejecting the established moral code (Ten commandments, whatever) because they refuse to be bound by traditional morality & feel they should be free to determine what is moral & immoral. What we usually end up with in most cases is people constructing a 'moral' code for themselves which permits them the freedom to do whatever they wish & only forbids them to do things that they wouldn't want to do anyway.

But when Lalwendë talks of "personal truth", she is referring to the individual reader's personal interpretation of a fictional text. That is a world away from actions that impacts upon others or upon society as a whole. I see no contradiction between individuals choosing to interpret a fictional text as they see fit while at the same time considering themselves bound by society's moral and legal values in their interactions with that society and others within it. It is only when they come to share their interpretation with others, either through discussion or publication, that such social values will have any bearing upon that interpretation.

So the question is still whether the Good, the True, the Real exist metaphysically, & provide an objective standard by which to judge the individual's own concepts of good, true, real.

I believe that the concepts you identify can be scientifically explained, while acknowledging that their basis in science cannot be definitively proved. I am not definitively rejecting a metaphysical origin, but rather simply making the point that it is not the only possible explanation.

His fiction was an attempt not simply to pass on those values, but to 'awaken' his readers to the direct experience of them.

I do not disagree with that statement. But, as I have said, a metaphysical explanation is not necessarily required for the values which he was seeking to pass on.