The Limits of Truth: Essays: Essays

These intriguing essays on philosophical truth encapsulate the history and theories of truth; the acquisition of common sense; reasoning and language; and logic and science. But they go beyond the logical, propositional truth, and investigate truth in the ontological sense: for example, in faith, art, and history.

The essays are literary and non-academic in style. The author has a point of view: truth is an evolutionary concept that arose among human (and hominid) societies. This evolutionary view stresses the high degree to which our reasoning and truth-telling are rooted in our emotions, which account for, not just meaning in the linguistic sense, but also meaningfulness, or emotional significance. It is the latter which leaves us open to subconscious as well as fully intentional lying, but also to great works of art and acts of faith.