User:HMaloigne/sandbox/Approaches to Knowledge/2020-21/Seminar group 17/Truth

Truth in Suicide Prevention
England and Wales registered 530,841 total deaths in 2019. Research by the Samaritans show that this figure includes an astounding 5,931 suicides, 321 up compared to 2018. The suicide rate, which is now 11 per 100,000 inhabitants, is at its highest since 2000. It’s safe to say that these high rates of suicide are a pressing issue that requires solving, but with many different facts and truths to consider, that can be a challenge.

Positivist truth in suicide statistics
The foundation to monitoring health statistics on an international scale is the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD), released by WHO. Chapters X60-X84 outline various methods and materials used in intentional self-harm. These classifications are important in ensuring that the same definition is given to suicide between different countries, thus allowing us to compare rates on a global scale.

Expressing suicide rates in numbers can, as seen in the introduction, be a very useful tool in understanding suicide. For instance, statistics show that more males committed suicide in 2018 than 2019 in the UK, and that both genders have seen an increase in 2018. This positivist viewpoint is very useful in detecting large-scale trends, and national suicide prevention programmes have been very effective in certain countries.

Constructivist truth in suicide prevention
Although large-scale prevention programs are very effective, it is impossible to establish a single program that encompasses all countries and social groups. Below are a couple examples of social constructs that influence how suicide is seen in different countries:


 * Religion. Most religions, like Christianity and the Islam, forbid the act of suicide. In turn, countries with higher religious population show lower suicide rates.
 * Gender. Numbers show that males are 3 times more likely to commit suicide than females. Among others, a possible explanation for this is that men are taught from a young age to bottle up their feelings.
 * Traditional suicide. Unlike western culture, the Japanese traditionally place more emphasis on society as a group rather than a collection of individuals. The harmony of the group was so important, that committing suicide to maintain it was considered virtuous. Samurai considered ritual suicide (seppukku) the ultimate demonstration of loyalty, and as a way to clear one's name of guilt. Although the government has since forbidden the act of suicide, study has shown that Japanese college students were more likely to accept suicide as a natural way to end one's life than American students. This is speculated to be due to the traditional values still living on in the younger generation.

In order to establish effective suicide prevention programs, social constructs like these must be considered carefully.

Perceived truth in suicide prevention strategies
A major hurdle in mental health problems is that they are subjective: the reason for taking ones life varies greatly between people: understanding how an individual feels is vital. This interpretive approach to suicide prevention is best seen in counselling sessions.

Truth in Astronomy: the Approach to Black Holes
The approach to truth in the discipline of astronomy is one that aims to create a mirror of reality. It is generally bias free and largely based on the rational understanding and mathematical calculations rather than the perspective matter of individuals. Observational and theoretical approaches are the most commonly used ones. An example of how these approaches are implemented is shown in the discovery of black holes.

Black holes are, by definition, objects in the universe that bend spacetime to a single point where gravity becomes so strong that no particles, not even photons of light can escape its pull. Therefore, black holes appear black to an observer from the outside and can't be seen directly.

Theoretical Approach
The theoretical approach is used to define the physical properties in astronomy and it is fundamental for potential observational discoveries. In 1915, Albert Einstein published the theory of general relativity, which suggests that spacetime is not linear, but it can be distorted by objects with mass. The distortion is then expressed as gravity. This theory is further explored by Karl Schwarzschild shortly after. Based on the general theory of relativity, he proposed that objects with mass exceeding a certain point would inevitably collapse into a singularity where the velocity needed to escape the body is higher than the speed of light so it appears as a dark object. This idea laid the foundation for the research around black holes.

Observational Approach
The observational approach aims to seek the existence of what is known as a theoretical object. In 2015, scientists were first able to detect gravitational waves formed by a collision caused by black holes. Due to the nature of black holes being invisible objects themselves, the only occasion to 'see' them is when matter close enough to a black hole gets accelerated by its gravitational pull to form a visible, energetic circle around the black hole. In 2019, the first photo of a black hole was captured using eight ground based telescopes around the globe. This photo acts as a significant proof for the theory of general relativity.

Truth and the Media
Truth is defined as the actual state of matter, conformed with facts or realities. Truths could be both subjective and objective in nature. Subjective truths are those which shed light on the human experience and objective truths are those which could be confirmed by scientific methods or occur in our realities. The media is a powerful tool to display the various truths of the world in the form of news, fiction, documentaries, books and reality TV. All media reflects some truths of the world and each genre of media follows specific epistemologies of truth.

Different Epistemologies of Truth in forms of Media
There are three main ways of thinking about truth- Correspondence theory of truth, Phenomenological theory of truth and Social Constructionist theory of truth.

Correspondence theory of truth aims to produce knowledge which reflects the realities that exist. An example of this in media would be documentaries and live footage. Phenomenological theory of truth depends on individual perceptions of subjective truth. This could be seen in movies and TV shows which often show a subject form of truth where it represents and investigates the human condition in particular situations allowing humans to learn and contemplate on certain behaviours. An example of social constructionist truth can be seen in news and the way news is reported. Social Constructionism represents all truths as social which is constructed through societies, where knowledge can be formed and acquired and truths could change over time. These epistemologies allow us to think about different truths in different contexts and acquire knowledge in different forms.

Distortions of truth in the media.
Distortions in media could be triggered by biases. Some examples of biases could be political, advertising, gatekeeping and perpetuating stereotypes. These distortions are harmful as they take us further from the truth and may convolute our understanding of various forms of knowledge. Distortions of truth by the media may serve specific agendas which impact the world and convince people to look at things in a way which may not be in their best interest.

The portrayal of Asian-American characters in Hollywood
This is an example of how the media distorts different truths by perpetuating untrue stereotypes and how this may snowball into a larger issue. For a long time, portrayal of Asian Americans in Hollywood have been one dimensional characters which perpetuate the model-minority stereotype. Asians are often shown as “nerdy”, “unsexy”, “shy” ,and “hard-working” which may in turn propagate the model minority myth. On the other end of the spectrum, some characters tropes like the “dragon lady” or “jealous smart student” propogates a negative stereotype called the “Yellow Peril” which further propagated racist and dated stereotypes of Asians being an existential threat to the West. These one dimensional representations in Hollywood are internalised as the truth by the vast audience which consumes these media. This may perpetuate racist stereotypes and may also further stress Asian Americans to conform to them. An extreme example of the such distortions of truth in history could be the 1992 Los Angeles riots, where there were extreme tensions between the Black and Korean community. This could be explained as how due to the “model minority myth”and “the urban underclass”, the two groups were pitted against each other. Such distortions are dangerous because they give us a false reality of things which not only creates more harm in society but also makes it difficult to contemplate important truths.

Truth in Ethnography
It is understood in contemporary anthropology that ethnographic research, the observation of groups or concepts through time and/or space, cannot ever be entirely objective. Like in all disciplines, observations are mediated by the experiences and perspective of the observer and the observed. Thus, identifying the objective or empirical ‘truth’ in such observations is not possible. This becomes increasingly apparent and problematic in anthropological study as it is underpinned by such observations . Ethnography, which characterises social and cultural anthropology, is research wherein typically an individual will immerse themselves within a community and conduct participant-observations of the group, before discussing their findings in a text. Whilst most modern anthropologists will endeavor to be free of implicit biases and prejudices which may inform their observations when conducting ethnography, the question of remaining ‘objective’ is often disputed within the discipline. This is famously associated with the conception of ‘postmodern’ anthropology, which called into question the appropriacy and efficacy of objectivity in field work. Postmodern scholars argued that knowledge in the social sciences is constructed intersubjectively, that is - as a product of the human interaction between both the subject and the object - and thus cannot be objective in the way the natural sciences can be. In such a way, modern anthropology has increasingly abandoned the notion of empirical objective evidence, in favour of a more realistic and ‘true’ conception of knowledge construction in the discipline.

Prior to this, following periods of colonialism in which research was plagued by bias, anthropologists had wrongly emphasised objectivity as the solution to colonial attitudes influencing the truth in the literature. This however, as postmodernists asserted, proved to be an ineffective methodology when studying human subjects in anthropology. Instead, ethnography now is marked by its amalgamation of object-orientated interviews and subject-orientated integration into the community, which attempts to provide a deeper and more accurate or ‘truthful’ insight into the lived experiences of that group being studied. In addition to cultural relativism, an approach first articulated by  Franz Boas in the late 19th century, which addresses and challenges  ethnocentrism, and particularly the  eurocentrism which defined early anthropology, in research. These elements of contemporary anthropology are reinforced by practices of reflexivity (social theory) and the evaluation of positionality adopted by post-colonial scholars. Decolonising methods call for ethnographers to appraise their position in the research with regard to power, gender and colonial dynamics, and to reflect on their personal feelings towards, conceptions of and practices within key phenomena in anthropology such as kinship, gender and religion, to better inform their observations.

Truth in Music
Music, and the study of music can be viewed as having basic underlying truths or frameworks in which the musician creates and can then share their art, these frameworks are certain truths that transmit their ideas. Music composition and performance can be approached from the epistemologies of empiricism or rationalism. These two approaches are almost completely opposed to each other, empiricism theorising that truths can vary based on individual experience whereas rationalism arguing that there are foundational truths that run beneath all individual experience to define reality.

Empiricist Truth in Music
Empiricism being the belief that all we know comes from experience and can only be applied to experience we understand; therefore we can only justify our beliefs with experience. An empiricist view of music would argue that interpretations of music would only be constant if their audience were constant, meaning that because individual listener would perceive the musical truth based upon their own personal experiences, no two listeners would experience the same truth. This argument is based, on the attachment of subjectivity to truth, that humans with certain experience may find certain musical qualities in a composition more enjoyable.

Rationalist Truth in Music
Rationalism is the belief that logic and reason are what make up all of reality and therefore knowledge, that there is structure of rational principles that guides are understanding of reality. Viewing music in this light would suggest that by having foundational principles of music: such as harmony, one can create and understand music based off of this principle. To further explore the rationalist approach of music, Levinson argued that the mathematical connections and foundations to musical structure could imply that music is predetermined, much like mathematics, and when composing one is only arranging these predetermined structures. This implies that much like with mathematics, humans have a predisposed ability to understand harmony or “what sounds good”. The Rationalist concept of truth follows a more objective understanding of truth, that there are foundational and preconceived rules to music composition that determines its value.

Truth in Law
The law system in the United Kingdom is composed of both legislation and precedents, found in case law. Indeed, in order to set precedent on law interpretation, a set of court decisions called Case Law are used. These are used to clarify and give some possible interpretations of the legislation in place.

The hierarchical relationship between Justice and Truth
Truth has a very peculiar role in the British legal system. A common error is believing that the courts of Justice final goal is to find truth. The real aim of trial court procedures is to find justice for the particular claims. Viscount Kilmuir, former Lord Chancellor, states this very clearly in a 1960’s article, writing “justice comes before truth”. Thus, the question of truth intervenes in verifying the facts used to justify the claim in question. Hence, the judge or magistrates are looking for positive statement, reflecting reality, to apply the law related with it. In order to encounter those, judicial findings of facts occur.

The Formal legal truth and the substantive truth
Two kinds of truth are to be considered in regard to law according to Robert S. Summers: The Formal legal truth and the substantive truth. The Substantive Truth is related to the Correspondence Theory of Truth, as it mirrors reality. In other words, it is what happened factually with no consideration to the manner truth was perceived. On the other hand, formal legal truth is defined as all the facts considered true by the judge or/and lay jurors. Formal legal truth in shaped by the testimony and facts reported by the two parts. In an ideal world, those two type of truth would be similar. Hence, the court aims to make these two correspond to be able to apply the right legislation or Case law and achieve a fair judgement. Indeed, as seen in the introduction, each rule is based on the application of both legislation and Case Law which is why the exactitude of the facts is significant. However, sometimes these differ for various reasons such as the unavailability of evidence causing a discrepancy between the degree of veracity of the facts in each case and the systems used.

Statements of truth
Despite these dissimilitudes, a relative truth is expected to be given by each party. This means that each person has to believe with sincerity that the claim made is true to his point of view. Indeed, false statements of truth can be found in statements of case, disclosure reports, witness statements and expert reports. If discovered, both the signatory and the person requesting the signature risk being contempt of court which can result in two years of prison.

Truth in Mythology
Mythology is considered to be a discipline on the borderline of anthropology, ethnology, literary theory, history, sociology, theology or religious studies. A myth is a story transmitted in the oral tradition, which had cognitive, pedagogical, sociological and religious functions. The word myth comes from Ancient Greek μῦθος (mȳthos), meaning 'speech, narrative, fiction, myth, plot' .Modern definition of myth states that it is a misinterpretation of truth. Although the etymological meaning of myth contains fiction, since ancient times this field of literature has served humanity in discovering the truths about the world and the mechanisms that govern it. The phenomenon of obtaining the truth through fiction has been observed and explored by two American literary icons and illustrates two different perspectives.

Mircea Eliade's Theory of Myth
Mircea Eliade was a Romanian-American historian of religion and a writer who defined the concept of myth. His interpretation of mythology recognises that myth tells a story which took place at the very beginning and is a holy tale, a report on what the Gods did, thus revealing the sacred mystery to the reader. Additionally, his perception assumes that myth shows the sacrum's interventions in the world, establish exemplary ritual aims and sets an example. In his view, mythology is a tool that establishes the absolute truth about the world and is a collection of answers to the existential problems of human beings, related to the passing away, the sense of life and death, the diversity of the world. It creates personal patterns and models of human behaviour. The appearance of similar myths independently, in different areas and cultures, was explained by Eliade's archetypical origin of mythology. His research was based on the theory of the Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung and argued that mythology belongs to the collective unconscious of humanity and is a projection of the archetypes of transcendence. Mythology is, therefore, a "sacred story" for those who support Eliade's interpretation, which must be remembered and told in order to give meaning to the whole world and their own lives.

Joseph Campbell's Theory of Myth
Joseph Campbell was a prolific American author and editor whose works on comparative mythology examined the universal functions of myth in various human cultures and mythic figures in a wide range of literatures. His works were also influenced by Jung's thoughts, but he shaped them in a way consistent with the beliefs of his mentor Heinrich Zimmer. Zimmer taught Campbell that myth (more than a guru or a spiritual guide) can act as a personal mentor, because mythical stories provide psychological signposts for finding oneself in the maze created by the complexity of the modern world. Campbell's theory of mythology assumes that myths allows achieving the goal of cognition, it is only a reference and does not expose the absolute truth about the world, but only aims to introduce harmony and show that there is a top-down order. Myths are the key to the spiritual possibilities of life and tools for learning about oneself. Untrue mythological tales are, consequently, a means to know not the absolute truth but to discover the subconscious of the individual.