Peter Emmerson

5. Certainty and Security: absolute-truth finders – theometaphysicians (priests, philosophers and pure mathematicians).

In part, as discussed above, our reliance on these conventions is about security and habit.  Mundane truths rather than absolute truths come to us from previous generations as tried and tested, ready-made proverbial guides for managing day to day ups and downs.  An example would be fatalistic beliefs, which allow us to offload responsibility for what happens onto something or someone else – ‘what will be, will be’: another belief contradictory to fatalism involves adherence to rationalistic convictions that motivate us to take responsibility and plan – ‘your fate is in your own hands’.  Whilst these maxims of every day conduct are gathered informally from mundane experience, higher order absolute truths are developed by professional truth-finders who have honed their techniques since ancient times in an attempt to manufacture certainties that immunise us from perfidious profane experiences.  Traditionally this formal work has been carried out by two figurations of theometaphysicians operating interdependently: priests (theologians) who oversee supernatural (religious) truths and philosophers/pure mathematicians (metaphysicians) who formulate reasoned/logical (secular) truths.

Their programme of absolute-truth finding has been very influential.  Moses gave us God’s word as Ten Commandments that have been adopted by enormous numbers of people as well as Jews.  These Commandments being God’s word are absolutely true by definition.  In a secular search for absolute truths, ancient Greek philosophers such as Plato developed logical methods which have governed western ways of thacting, both religious and secular, ever since.  Pure mathematicians such as Pythagoras continue to influence contemporary mathematicians and engineers.  These formal truths are absolute and cannot be disproven.  This is their great attraction.  They provide security by reassuring us that certain knowledge and stability persists beyond our sensory perceptions, guiding our every day, comparatively uncertain experiences.  Knowing with certainty offers absolute control over our fears and anxieties about earthly volatilities: martyrs are ready to go through tortuous deaths for their religious truths.  Metaphysical truths such as justice, equality and pure mathematical theorems have tremendous force and must not be underestimated as human motivators – as Liam Fox, Secretary of State for International Trade, said this morning (1/9/17) business needs ‘certainty’ if we are to benefit from Brexit.