The Nature of Truth

Why do we bother to ask the question: ‘What is Truth?’ We are obliged to do so by one of the most fundamental urges in the human mind. Whenever we see an unfamiliar object, we ask: ‘What is it?’ Whenever we come across a new person in our social life, we ask a friend: ‘Who is that?’

This instinct to learn the truth or reality of things, which has been the spur driving on scientists to more and more remarkable discoveries, is present in all of us, and if it is stifled, then we are reduced to the position of a machine or lower animal. Lower animals also show their devotion and duty to their young ones and to others, but what differentiates them from man is that they have no urge to know Truth. It is human beings alone who ask the question: ‘What is Truth?’ and when we cease to ask this question, we cease to be truly human.