The question of truth The goal of every philosopher is to find what can only be defined as "truth". Truth is the undeniable, that which can be relied upon in all circumstances, obviously the only thing in life that has real meaning. Unfortunately, the truth is rather elusive, as philosophers have been dealing with the question since the time of Socrates, and no one has yet produced a definitive answer. Over my years of reading on the topic, I have only accepted a few concepts as valid and I would like to share them now. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Rene Descartes' essay "The Search for Certainty" should be considered the starting point for any discussion of truth. In it he exposes one of the few hypotheses that has no holes: solipsism. She states that a person's existence is the only thing she can truly be sure of. The existence of others or external objects, although it may be quite probable, cannot be completely relied upon. First, you can't trust every perception you have. Our eyes regularly see things that turn out not to be there, our ears hear voices that don't exist, and so on. If we accept that our senses can deceive us, how can we be sure that they are ever truthful? At any moment, or at any moment, our sensory perception can simply play tricks on us and therefore it cannot be trusted. Likewise, we can never be sure that other apparently sentient beings are, in fact, thinking and acting. They could be figments of our imagination just as easily as non-thinking things are. But now that all these different things have been declared “not necessarily existent,” how can one be sure that they themselves exist? It seems like a difficult question at first, and God knows a number of pseudo-intellectual beings have speculated that our lives might just be someone else's dream, but in reality the answer is quite simple: thought. Independent and creative thought and action are sure signs of true existence. Now, even if it cannot be proven that other human beings think, everyone can be sure that at least they do so as individuals. I know I exist, because I feel control over my body and actively compose thoughts in my mind. This remains one of the most important ideas in all of philosophy, because (a) it has never been effectively countered and (b) it can end almost any debate (“Well, you don't exist, so there!”). Yet , while solipsism technically makes sense, it is of little use in the real world. Going through life without recognizing other humans or any objects would be incredibly difficult. Thus a more practical view of the issue was created: pragmatism. William James, an early pragmatist, wrote an essay on the subject simply titled “Truth.” A pragmatist is not so much interested in the question of truth itself, but more in whether or not something that is true will affect life. The question that defines a pragmatist is, “Suppose it is true, what does it mean to me?” Besides being a more useful way of looking at things than most philosophical theories, it also has some logical roots, but you need to readjust your philosophical mind. First we must recognize that the only true thing in life is existence itself. We are alive and we can say with some certainty that one day we will die. This is quite consistent with solipsism. But we must also recognize that there are functions necessary to support our life condition. Now,.