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Single Idea 15999
[filed under theme 3. Truth / A. Truth Problems / 3. Value of Truth
]
Full Idea
If God held all truth enclosed in his right hand, and in his left hand the ever-striving drive for truth, even if erring forever, and he were to say Choose! I would humbly fall at his left hand and say Father, give! Pure truth is for infinite beings only.
Gist of Idea
Pure truth is for infinite beings only; I prefer endless striving for truth
Source
Søren Kierkegaard (Concluding Unscientific Postscript [1846], p.106)
A Reaction
A sobering realistic thought of our own limitations; Kierkegaard allows that there is no limit to how far we can strive for truth. Just that truth is comprehended by infinite beings (if any), not by mere mortals. [SY]
The
36 ideas
with the same theme
[why anyone might desire truth]:
251
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Truth has the supreme value, for both gods and men
[Plato]
|
21356
|
Piety requires us to honour truth above our friends
[Aristotle]
|
20849
|
Falsehoods corrupt a mind, producing passions and instability
[Stoic school, by Diog. Laertius]
|
1852
|
For the mind Good is one truth among many, and Truth is one good among many
[Aquinas]
|
6258
|
Virtue is the distinctive mark of truth, and its greatest product
[Montaigne]
|
8018
|
Spinoza's life shows that love of truth which he proclaims as the highest value
[MacIntyre on Spinoza]
|
12549
|
Nothing is so beautiful to the eye as truth is to the mind
[Locke]
|
19574
|
If man sacrifices truth he sacrifices himself, by acting against his own convictions
[Novalis]
|
21795
|
What I hold true must also be part of my feelings and character
[Hegel]
|
19443
|
Truth forges an impersonal unity between people
[Feuerbach]
|
15999
|
Pure truth is for infinite beings only; I prefer endless striving for truth
[Kierkegaard]
|
23520
|
Truth has had to be fought for, and normal life must be sacrificed to achieve it
[Nietzsche]
|
2914
|
One must never ask whether truth is useful
[Nietzsche]
|
11090
|
Why do we want truth, rather than falsehood or ignorance? The value of truth is a problem
[Nietzsche]
|
20380
|
Why should truth be omnipotent? It is enough that it is very powerful
[Nietzsche]
|
24092
|
I tell the truth, even if it is repulsive
[Nietzsche]
|
23199
|
What is the search for truth if it isn't moral?
[Nietzsche]
|
23202
|
Like all philosophers, I love truth
[Nietzsche]
|
24082
|
Is the will to truth the desire to avoid deception?
[Nietzsche]
|
23715
|
Psychologists should be brave and proud, and prefer truth to desires, even when it is ugly
[Nietzsche]
|
14853
|
Truth finds fewest champions not when it is dangerous, but when it is boring
[Nietzsche]
|
24114
|
The pain in truth is when it destroys a belief
[Nietzsche]
|
20357
|
Truth was given value by morality, but eventually turned against its own source
[Nietzsche]
|
23825
|
We seek truth only because it is good
[Weil]
|
23755
|
Genius and love of truth are always accompanied by great humility
[Weil]
|
23877
|
Most people won't question an idea's truth if they depend on it
[Weil]
|
23853
|
Truth is not a object we love - it is the radiant manifestation of reality
[Weil]
|
22462
|
We should speak the truth, but also preserve and pursue it
[Foot]
|
19151
|
Antirealism about truth prevents its use as an intersubjective standard
[Davidson]
|
23291
|
Without truth, both language and thought are impossible
[Davidson]
|
23284
|
Plato's Forms confused truth with the most eminent truths, so only Truth itself is completely true
[Davidson]
|
23286
|
Truth can't be a goal, because we can neither recognise it nor confim it
[Davidson]
|
22664
|
I do not care if my trivial beliefs are false, and I have no interest in many truths
[Nozick]
|
21032
|
Speak truth only to those who deserve the truth
[Sandel]
|
21033
|
Careful evasions of truth at least show respect for it
[Sandel]
|
14992
|
We don't care about plain truth, but truth in joint-carving terms
[Sider]
|