Self-evident truth - Philosophical Concept | Alexandria
Self-evident truth, a concept seemingly simple, yet fraught with complexities, denotes a proposition whose veracity is understood immediately upon comprehension, without need for external proof or elaborate demonstration—or does it? Often conflated with innate ideas or universal agreement, "self-evident truth" compels us to examine the very foundations of knowledge and belief, and the boundaries of subjective morality.
The historical roots of self-evident truth intertwine with the rise of rationalism and the Enlightenment. While echoes may be found in earlier philosophical traditions, its modern prominence stems from the 17th and 18th centuries. Thinkers like René Descartes, grappling with skepticism and the search for indubitable foundations for epistemology, sought such truths, with Descartes finding his in the famous proposition "Cogito, ergo sum" ("I think, therefore I am"). However, it was the American Declaration of Independence (1776) which gave the concept its most iconic expression: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
However, the Declaration's seemingly straightforward pronouncements mask layers of philosophical debate. Were these truths truly self-evident, or were they contingent on specific cultural, religious, or philosophical presuppositions? The legacy of the declaration has undergone significant evolution over the centuries as various thinkers have pondered the meaning of "all men are created equal," and what "unalienable rights" were, in fact, unalienable. The very concept of self-evident truth became a battleground between objective morality and subjective morality, moral relativism vs universalism, and philosophical realism vs anti-realism. As philosophical anthropology developed as a discipline, the meaning of truth, and the limitations of human capacity to arrive at truth, led to new movements like existentialism and cultural relativism: ideas that are often at odds with the concept of self-evident truth.
The allure, and the inherent risk, of self-evident truths lies in their apparent obviousness. Such apparent obviousness can lead to cognitive bias in decision making. Do they represent fundamental moral intuition, or are they merely reflections of deeply ingrained cultural norms, shaped by cognitive bias or fairness heuristic? The ongoing debates surrounding ethics in AI, fairness bias, and justice theory force us to confront how seemingly objective principles can perpetuate existing inequalities. As we grapple with questions of truth, justice, and morality in an increasingly complex world, the notion of "self-evident truth" continues to challenge, provoke, and inspire us to look deeper, question harder, and strive for a more profound understanding of ourselves and the world around us.