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Full Idea
We simply lack any organ for knowledge, for 'truth'; we 'know' [das Erkennen] (or believe or imagine) just as much as may be useful in the interests of the human herd, the species; and this 'utility' is ultimately also a mere belief.
Gist of Idea
We have no organ for knowledge or truth; we only 'know' what is useful to the human herd
Source
Friedrich Nietzsche (The Gay (Joyful) Science [1882], §354)
Book Ref
Nietzsche,Friedrich: 'The Gay Science', ed/tr. Kaufmann,Walter [Vintage 1974], p.300
A Reaction
[Section §354 is fascinating!] An odd idea, that we can only have truth is we have an 'organ' for it. It seems plausible that the whole brain is a truth machine. This seems like pure pragmatism, with all its faults. Falsehoods can be useful.
| 6598 | We need our beliefs to be determined by some external inhuman permanency [Peirce] |
| 20140 | We shouldn't object to a false judgement, if it enhances and preserves life [Nietzsche] |
| 20122 | We have no organ for knowledge or truth; we only 'know' what is useful to the human herd [Nietzsche] |
| 2548 | If knowledge is merely justified belief, justification is social [Rorty] |
| 3247 | Epistemology is centrally about what we should believe, not the definition of knowledge [Nagel] |
| 3595 | What works always takes precedence over theories [Williams,M] |
| 12802 | We aren't directly pragmatic about belief, but pragmatic about the deliberation which precedes it [Foley] |
| 12803 | Justification comes from acceptable procedures, given practical constraints [Foley] |