A more beautiful bouquet

Posted by admin on Apr 2, 2008 in Issues & Ideas | 0 comments

Perspectivism implies that no way of seeing the world is more correct than its rivals, thus there are many theoretical perspectives which can determine the value of any truth statement. In perspectivism an object in-and-of-itself doesn’t exist because there is always a subjective evaluation of objects by people.
For example, a chair is not merely a chair. Any person who looks at a chair has had their own personal familiarity with chairs. Maybe they got a nasty splinter from a wooden chair, maybe they have an unhealthy fascination with chairs or perhaps they grew up without a chair. Regardless, consciously or unconsciously they are sculpting their opinion according to what they value a chair to be. Just because one person is obsessed with chairs, does not mean the person who is a chair virgin does not have a valid perspective. Even if hundreds of people were standing around a chair, each describing their own personal perspective, all outlooks would be considered equal truth statements. What a dynamic chair this has turned out to be.
But what if I really just want a chair to be a chair? I mean, stop the discussion and sit already. No, this cannot be. For with perspectivism, there are no absolutes. There is not even a transcendental truth, and so we have the freedom to create truth as we want it to be. And this is where the beauty of perspectivism fades, where it weakens to the depths of nihilist relativism – or in a more general term, apathy. For if there are no absolutes, then what is the point of even having a perspective?
But there is hope. Just because there is no absolute truth from one individual’s limited perspective, does not mean there is no absolute truth out there. Truth is more like a bouquet of flowers, where there is no one ideal point from which the flowers can be viewed. Instead, we should look at them from all angles in order to appreciate their true beauty. The more perspectives from which we observe the flowers, the more we capture their significance.
A final example: Christians have one absolute truth – their faith in God and His transcendence to communicate things that are true. If we view this truth strictly from our own perspective, than we are missing the complete picture. Similarly, if we quest to discover God solely with others our own age, gender and religion, or even within our own philosophical ideologies or scriptural interpretations, we are missing out on millions of diverse perspectives within our lifetime. Christians are not the only ones who have a spiritual dimension to their life, and it is absolutely necessary to engage in healthy and authentic relationships with other personalities, other religions and other cultures. To do this is to embrace the beauty of perspectivism: delving into the nature of God.