Truth Evolves by Dustin Arand

by Dustin Arand

Truth, knowledge, and ethics are far from the concrete absolutes people often see them as. Rather, truth and morality are relative concepts, caught in a continuous cycle of trial and error. In short, truth continually evolves. Dustin Arand explores the implications of ever-adapting ethics in Truth Evolves. Basing his arguments on evolutionary theory, philosophy of language, and philosophy of mind, Arand explains how adaptive truth applies to moral duty, religion, and living a meaningful life. At the center of Arand’s worldview is the virtue of corrigibility, or the ability to correct and adjust one’s thoughts and beliefs. Corrigibility lies at the heart of intellectual honesty and integrity, allowing for the correction of the beliefs that govern our daily lives and the institutions that govern our society. Using accessible, easy-to-understand language, Arand applies corrigibility to major philosophical questions on the nature of knowledge, the relationship between beauty and truth, and the difficult, contentious debate over who—or what—counts as a person. A fascinating exploration into the ephemeral nature of knowledge and ethics, Truth Evolves invites you to consider these deeply personal, deeply human issues.

Genres: Philosophy

Mass Market Paperback

First published April 11, 2015

Reviews

[Sara Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dustin Arand, author of Truth Evolves, is a philosopher of extraordinary depth and insight. I will admit this was a challenge for me, but a challenge worth taking. It flows well in style and content and it deserves praise for that alone. A lot of philosophical points are made as the author argues that Religion should be abandoned as it places limits on the search of knowledge and moral development. This book embraces a philosophical inquiry with clear and rigorous arguments. If you take the time to read this book, you will come out with a much better understanding of the issues, and have more interesting things to contribute to conversations than you did before. After reading this all I can really say is "This work is essential for understanding a central concept of Truth"

[Anthony Avice Du Buisson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dustin Arand is an American lawyer and a Philosopher with an apt for rigorous philosophical enquiry and formulation. This is no more evident than in the book 'Truth Evolves'- a book like no other in its field. Dustin's book delves into epistemology, ethics and the nature of 'truth' with startling detail and insight. 'Truth Evolves' takes the reader on an intellectual journey through the various philosophies of knowledge, mind, biology and ethics in the attempt of engaging with the reader on an intellectual landscape. (Dustin opens each chapter with a brilliant quote.) In 'Truth Evolves', Dustin applies evolutionary theory to epistemology and accounts for the constant adaptation of truth, and the helpfulness of this adaptation to humanity's development. This helpfulness is reiterated in the concept of 'corrigibility'; "corrigibility refers to a property of any institution, be it political, academic, professional, or otherwise, and to the language (or languages) prevailing within and between such institutions, such that they are capable of adapting themselves to the changing demands of the environmental conditions that constitute their raison d'être [a property's purpose]". This concept weaves itself throughout the book and is an important element in the understanding of the author's thesis. Furthermore, the author emphasises the need for individuals to adjust their mentality towards a deeper understanding of reality, and expresses the consequences of intellects that depart from this deeper understanding.The means by which Dustin expresses this is through modern day examples such as the civil rights debate.

Now, the book does have to be read more than once - once for feeling and the second for analysis - and it can be hard to read at certain places. However, like Immanuel Kant's 'Critique of Pure Reason' the book is not meant to be read in one's leisure, it is instead meant to be analysed and thoroughly assessed. Overall, the book is a good read for anyone interested in epistemology, ethics, morality, truth or evolution. I give it 4.5/5 stars, and I definitely recommend it to everyone.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love reading books by authors that I know personally and I've had the good fortune to have known a number of authors. Dustin Arand is an amazing guy so I was anxious to read his first book when it came out. The book focuses throughout on one major point, that is, that what we call truth is dependent on our own personal backgound, life experiences, world view, and cultural norms. Since all of these change over time, so does our perception of truth. Dustin also shows how the principle of "corrigibility" applies to all facets of truth seeking. Corrigibility is the ability that individuals or institutions have to self-correct. Individuals or enterprises that don't have the ability to self-correct, based on new evidence and new findings, are not very good at finding truth. Congratulations Dustin on writing a great book full of interesting insights and personal, political, scientific and religious examples of truth seeking behavior.