Where truth is sufficient, there is no need for “holy lies”. In relation to this one would do well to consider Paul’s monster lie. Paul, with style and cunning befitting a Saint, carved in stone the words ‘TRUTH IS NEVER SUFFICIENT’. Subsequently, all kinds of “holy lies” came to be seen by the spirit as necessary- one was in need of them at all times. Everything veracious was henceforth known as poison, evil- and it’s avatar, the man of knowledge, was condemned. There is little else as infernal for us thinkers.
PS. The lie of millennia which Nietzsche talks about in Ecce Homo includes the claim that decadence morality is necessary. Exposing the truth of this morality (as Nietzsche did) proves oneself a destiny, a force majeure- but it’s not the only way. Exposing the truth of any major component of said lie achieves the same result.
The thread starter is talking about the value of “untrue beliefs”. Yes anti-dogmatism. Dogma’s are just solidified errors. “Truths” are simply contingent fictions that hold sway at any given time. They are wholly contingent, and will be swept away with, the next scientific discovery, new philosophical theories, what have you. It is nihilism. We are guided by errors.
There is no true belief, and belief is a rejection of truth, and belief is not subject to proof or to logical refutation… What people believe they believe and not because it is true, but in spite of the fact that it is not true, and they do not believe easier belief beside verifiable fact, but take all as beyond real…-AS supereal… The less believe-able a system of beliefs is, the sooner it will be swallowed whole… It is not bait that people accept; but hook line and sinker, bobber and boat… The problem with reason is simple… If reason does not lead to all people living more meaningful and less difficult lives then it will cause all a manor of people to a slip into the magic and irrationality of the past… And, if knowledge is our goal, we must admit that most reality is beyond our knowledge or proof, and so see that all knowledge is based upon some belief… Yet, -fact is what we need for this world, to turn this world toward our good… We do not have to know the first cause to know cause… We do not have to prove we exist to work good out of existence… If eternity demands a leap of faith, then forget the faith, and deal with what one person can find to be true in one life… Truth is not an eternal value, but a utilitarian value… It is only as good as good it does…
It is pretty flat where I live… It is hard to get beyond what is obvious in the quest for truth; but what we often find is that what seems obvious is only apparent…
an “untrue belief” is a non-sensical statement. beliefs are neither true nor untrue, that only holds for facts.
now if you are talking about articles of faith being treated as facts, then yes. but then the thread title would be “In intellectual matters, unsubstantiated facts are unjusitified.”
Which would make me want to hit you with a large frying pan. but maybe that’s because I have the eye of Zarathustra!
Perhaps the topic should be: ‘Only a “holy lie” which incites loveplay is justifiable.’
One should remember that Zarathustra is the most honest thinker; that is, Zarathustra is alone in possessing the virtue of honesty in intellectual matters to the point of holiness. His pariah in this regard (the enlightened man who espouses “holy lies”) is the one here addressed- not the believer himself.
As I stated above, the “truth” is simply a human prejudice.
“What do you know in advance of the character of existence to
be able to decide whether the greater advantage is on the side
of the unconditionally mistrustful or of the unconditionally
trusting? Yet if both are required, much trust and much mistrust:
whence might science then take its unconditional faith,
its conviction on which it rests, that truth is more important
than anything else, even than any other conviction? Just this
conviction could not have originated, if both truth and untruth
showed themselves continually to be useful, as is the case.
Thus the undeniably existing faith in science cannot owe its
origin to such a utility calculus but must rather have originated
in spite of the fact that the inutility and dangerousness of
the “will to truth,” of “truth at any price” is proved to it continually.”
Truth is not just prejudice, but that which prejudice rests upon: Our Lives… If we lose the truth, we lose our lives, ultimately…Life is truth. It was the same for the cave man as for the moon man… Reality kills, and truth helps us to negotiate with reality to keep our lives…
