Philosophical Concepts of Truth and the Evolution of Life
The Concept of Truth Through Philosophical Eras
Ancient Philosophy
- Truth and Reality: What remains true is immutable, so it is always the same. (Plato and Aristotle)
- Truth as Fitness of Intellect to Thing: Something is true if what is said corresponds with what is being spoken about. (Aristotle)
Medieval Philosophy
- Transcendental Truth: Truth and being are equated. (Thomas Aquinas)
- Logical Truth: (Thomas Aquinas)
Modern Philosophy
- Truth as Evidence: Seeking certain knowledge, rejecting as false anything not presented to consciousness with absolute certainty, e.g., “I think, therefore I am.” (Descartes)
- Truth as a Construction of the Subject: Truth is intramental, and the thing-in-itself remains unknowable. (Kant)
Contemporary Philosophy
- Truth as Correspondence: The truth is the correspondence between what is meant and what is given, the “phenomenon.” (Husserl)
- Truth as Utility: Something is true if it is useful, a “vital benefit” that deserves to be conserved. (William James)
Characteristics and Evolution of Life
General Features of Living Beings
- All organisms have a tendency to continue to exist through growth and reproduction.
- Living organisms grow because of hereditary mechanisms.
- They respond to external circumstances.
- The development of life involves an accumulation of information.
- A living organism requires the incorporation of energy.
Plant and Animal Life
- Plant Life (Autotrophs): Organisms capable of generating their own food from inorganic substances and sunlight. They typically remain fixed to the ground.
- Animal Life (Heterotrophs): This involves predation on the plant world, fulfilling life requirements, and actively searching for everything needed to live and continue living. All animals learn and retain memories.
Theories of Evolution
- Evolutionism offers the general framework for understanding how the human body and mind come from a long evolutionary chain.
- Lamarck: Life develops in a particular environment where changes occur. These changes compel living beings to adapt by developing new organs or causing existing ones to atrophy. Nature selects individuals who possess these useful changes, and thus the species gradually undergoes transformations that lead to new species.
- Gregor Mendel: Mutations are permanent changes in genes that appear randomly or by chance. They are transmitted by heredity from generation to generation without a specific purpose.
- Punctuated Equilibrium: Theorists maintain that evolution does not occur slowly and gradually, but rather in periods of rapid change alternating with prolonged periods of calm.
The Hominization Process
Humans are complex, multicellular organisms with the capacity to move on their own. We get the energy we need to live from other organisms and nutrients. We belong to the order of primates, our closest living relatives, with whom we share almost all of our genetic material. Common characteristics include prehensile hands and feet, stereoscopically coordinated eyes, a small number of offspring per birth, a prolonged period of immaturity, complex social behavior, and a brain and intelligence more complex than that of other mammals.
Key Factors in Hominization:
- Prehensile hands and feet
- Stereoscopic vision
- Increased body size
- Bipedal, erect posture
- The hand-mouth-brain relationship
- Increased brain size and complexity
- Language and mental refinement
- Social life
- Transmission of knowledge