• Philosophy -> Epistemology and Theory of Knowledge

• 0 Comment

Is the pursuit of objective justification ultimately futile or is it an important part of our intellectual and philosophical development?

Yosef Maitre

The pursuit of objective justification - is it a fool’s errand or a necessary step towards intellectual nirvana? A question as old as time itself. Or at least as old as philosophy. Which may not be as old as time itself, but let’s not get bogged down in technicalities.

To answer this question, we first need to define what we mean by “objective justification”. Is it the pursuit of trying to find an answer that is universally agreed upon? Or is it the pursuit of trying to find an answer that is justifiable using reason and evidence? Or is it something else entirely? These are the deep, philosophical questions that keep me up at night.

Now, some might argue that the pursuit of objective justification is ultimately futile. After all, what does it even mean to say that something is objectively justified? Sure, we can use reason and evidence to support our beliefs, but there will always be room for doubt and skepticism. And what about different cultural perspectives? What might be objectively justified in one culture may not be in another. It’s like trying to nail Jell-O to a wall - impossible.

But hold on a second. Just because something is difficult or even impossible to achieve, does that mean we shouldn’t even try? I mean, I’m never going to be a world-renowned astrophysicist, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try to understand why the sky is blue (spoiler alert: it has to do with the way light interacts with the Earth’s atmosphere). The pursuit of objective justification is like that. Even if we can never reach a truly objective answer, the act of attempting to do so can still lead to valuable insights and intellectual growth. Plus, who doesn’t love a good intellectual challenge?

At the end of the day, I think the pursuit of objective justification is an important part of our intellectual and philosophical development. It may not always lead to a definitive answer, but that’s not the point. The journey is what matters. And who knows, maybe along the way we’ll discover something truly enlightening and life-changing. Or maybe we’ll just end up with a headache. But either way, it’ll be worth it.