The rationality premise of the belief that most people are capable of discovering truth through logical analyisis is somewhat true. I can only agree that because of institutions like trial by jury, that truth may be revealed after time. But then again, we tend to be want to be seen as "good" rather than "true" or honest at that matter. I believe it is extremely hard to discover truth through annalysis because there are so many sneaky, conniving, and manipulative people out in the world today. Wrongful convictions have occurred by trail by jury. Also, as a relate-able example, to find out if your significant other is cheating, they are going to deny deny deny at first, and may or may not reveal themselves. You may be crazy thinking your boyfriend (girlfriend) is cheating on you when they are not, or they may just hide away the truth. I think humans want to be seen as "good" and wholesome for a frontal aspect, yet we cannot convey the truth and boil it down into an ultimatum, it is almost impossible.
The perfectibility premise that humans are born sin but are capable of achieving goodness through effort and control is true. The book "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding attributes this idea extremely well.(Spoiler alert) Some children are put into a lonesome island without any rules or restrictions or adults, and eventually come around to being savages and end up murdering a fellow child. Humans are born sinful, and without government and control, bad things will happen because goodness is not recognized by a higher authority.
Mutability premise that human behavior is shaped by environmental factors is true as well. Prime example is this is advertising, the media, and even political gossip. People are surrounded by these influences that generally shape our culture and beliefs, and because of this, a negative (or positive) impact can be directly related. Wanting to look "sexy", have "clear skin", and become like a "celebrity" is constantly in our face showing us the "right" way of doing things. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to attain a strong founded education to abide by these factors, and choose what they want to believe in because their is no other or former source of education. If education was universal, than the belief of shaping our social and cultural behavior may be attainable.
I would have to agree that the rationality premise is the underlying principle in our judicial systems, especially due to the fact that ignorance is not considered a proper defense. But I like the point you make that logical analysis does not always lead to the discovery of truth. It has to be remembered that analysis is always only as good as the data in which the conclusions were derived from. There is so much misinformation available that truthful discoveries can be extremely difficult to come by in many situations. There is also the issue that we tend to live in a modern civilization of information overload where sources can be hard to legitimize and truth is hardly ever evident.
ReplyDelete