On the Contrary

I've done a lot of thinking on "truth" lately, as you can tell. It just astounds me that these basic self-evident notions are challenged by some highly-regarded intellectuals. So one more point on this truth thing: Truth, by definition, is exclusive. The opposite of true is false. Or, put another way opposites cannot both be true. This is the known as the Law of Non-contradiction and is one of the fundamental laws of logic.

We live by this law every day, even if we're unaware of it. Any time we argue for one point over another, we are affirming the law of non-contradiction. Without this law of logic our world would be unintelligible. It would be equally true to say that I am dry and wet, short and tall, or even pregnant and not pregnant at the same time.

Avicenna, the great Medieval philosopher summed it up this way. "Anyone who denies the law of non-contradiction should be beaten and burned until he admits that to be beaten is not the same as not to be beaten, and to be burned is not the same as not to be burned."

Fun with skeptical truth claims:
"There is no truth"... Is that true?
"You can't know truth"... How do you know that is true?
"Opposites can both be true"... Is the opposite of that true?
"You should doubt everything"... Should I doubt that?

In short, if something is true, then something is false. All statements, beliefs, or truth claims cannot be true. Thus, religious pluralism dies at the hands of the Law of Non-Contradiction. More on that later.