What is Truth?

In the first unit of the course Forbidden Books, we studied the philosophical method of Socrates. Socrates was born 469 B.C. in Athens and he was told that he was the wisest man. Socrates didn't think it was true so he set out to find someone wiser then him. He used the socratic method; this method helped him find out if the wisest people known are really wise, so he observe them and asked them a lot of questions. He found no success but he found out that the reason why he is considered the wisest man is because he knew that he didn't know. Meaning that he did not think that he knew everything, if there was something he didn't know he would admit it and the others would not. For our action project, we chose a topic and find out the meaning of it. I chose Truth because it's a choice that we make everyday, the choice to speak the truth or lie. To fully understand the definition of truth I asked people I knew to tell me what they think it is. After that I picked a situation related to truth and made a script and that lead to making a video. Throughout this project I had difficulties with the script but that is the thing I am most proud of.



Script:

Siena: Hello Astrid how are you doing on this beautiful day in Blue Bell Chicago? You look troubled.

Astrid: Well… my cousin told me that my best friend is talking bad behind my back…. I don’t know who to believe. I don’t know who is telling the truth.

Siena: Well then what do you think is truth? And how do you know who is telling the truth?

Astrid: Everyone knows that truth is something that is believed to be true.

Siena: Believed to be true by whom? And how do you know what is true?

Astrid: By me! And I know it’s true because I know.

Siena: From your perspective what is truth? What do you feel when you know something is true?

Astrid: Truth is honesty in what someone tells you. Having honesty with people gives you confidence to tell them anything and you just feel happy.

Siena: Will you feel happy if someone tells you that your dog died? It’s the truth but it doesn’t make you happy.

Astrid: I would not be happy, I would be sad.

Siena: The truth doesn’t always make you feel happy. What evidence do you have of your cousin or best friend telling the truth? Does truth need evidence? If so what type of evidence?

Astrid: Siena these are really hard questions! I dont know what type of evidence I will need to discover to know if my cousin or best friend is telling the truth. I guess truth is more than a feeling because I feel confused about who is telling the truth.

Siena: What type of evidence do you think you will need to find out the truth? And how will you pursue it?

Astrid: I would put a recorder in both of their book bags, so in that way I can hear everything they say and the recording will be my evidence.

Siena: What if they are both telling the truth and the evidence show that? Do you believe that there are different interpretations of truth?

Astrid: Um…….I think you are right. There could be different versions of the truth.

Siena: What is true for one person might not be true for another, thats why evidence help us identify truth.

Astrid: I agree, thank you for helping me in this dilemma.

Siena: You are welcome, I am glad to help.

Astrid: Have a good day, bye.

Siena: Thank you, you too, bye.