Quote:
|
My feeling is that we have an innate sense of 'Right', 'Real', 'Good', 'True', & that when we encounter it we respond to it. We know that herding people into gas ovens or abusing children is WRONG, not because we have happened to construct our own 'truth' which confirms that, but because, even though we might not be able to cite a long list of 'logical' facts against it
|
I was indeed talking of readers' individual responses to texts - it's those darned
words again, wreaking havoc...
Our sense of right and wrong is learned. If we did not learn these things then we would exist on the primitive level of survival and instinct alone. As children we are disciplined if we steal, or swear or use bad manners. Witness the unfortunate children who do not have parents or guardians who care to teach them, they do not gain an understanding of what society at large sees as right and wrong, and they act against society. If we did not learn about the horrors of the Nazi regime then we would not know that these things happened and these things are wrong. And the men who were involved in these things, many of them were taught that this was the right thing to do, they learned that they did these things or they would face the cruelty of the regime themselves.
Our 'truths' are learned. The things I have learned and my experiences have resulted in one of my 'truths' being that all religious beliefs are equally valid, and that they are also personal. But many do not think this, even those closest to me, as their 'truth' is different, they have one belief, or no belief and their 'truth' is this.
Recently there was a link to an article which linked elements of LOTR to the Iraq war; many of us found this ludicrous and wondered why this argument had been constructed. But the person who wrote it was applying their 'truth' to the text. While I did not agree with it, I learned something from it (maybe not what the writer intended, though...). And others on the 'Downs also did not agree with it, which showed that there is a consensus about certain 'truths' held by others, that they do not have as much validity as others. This shows that we have our individual 'truth', but that we are also swayed by collective 'truth'.
Edit: And my contribution to the argument, this is part of my own 'truth', and others have different 'truths'. This might seem like philosophical fence-sitting, but this is all part of what I am trying to say.