Capital T Truth

On his NYT blog this afternoon, Paul Krugman has an addendum to his NYT column this morning on telling ourselves the truth, in this case about torture, but also in all other areas of public (and private) life.

I am convinced that the two most virulent evils to emerge in public discourse over the past half century are first the notion that truth in any fundamental sense is unknowable and that therefore all actions are simply expressions of power and second, and seemingly opposite, that truth is knowable, that my group or party knows it and therefore anything we do in imposing this truth is morally permissible.

These are, I believe, two sides of the same coin. This is seen most clearly in those that claim that while they have ascertained truth, their opponents are merely expressing feelings or opionion. But, as Alasdair McIntyre suggested in After Virtue, it is equally problematic when all believe that truth is a myth and that only power matters.

More importantly, I think, a life of faith rejects both of these possibilities. It accepts that truth exists -- it is the very essence and expression of God. But it also embraces humility. We cannot with certainty know it. We are called, as Stanley Hauerwas for one argues, as a community and individually, to live truth and to speak truth but never to impose truth. And such an approach would preclude both the thuggery and the moral cowardice in the face of this thuggery that have coloured our society.