The World as We Think





Since ages, we have been witness to an incessant face off between faith and logic. European enlightenment exposed certain flaws in blind faith and ushered in an era of rationality, and logic became the dominant paradigm. Oriental metaphysical thoughts like the Advaita Vedanta are expounded on as rational a ground as metaphysics could ever be. But at a certain point, they have to forsake logic due to its inherent limitations and enter a realm where tools of logic are no longer applicable and things have to be taken on faith. To understand these limitations, we have to first understand the nature and mechanism of logic.
Logic is a continuous build up, a rearrangement of propositions known as elementary or object propositions. These propositions, which we call `facts', are based on direct perceptual knowledge, or empiricism. These elementary building blocks of the logical process hinge upon the validity of human perception and are limited by the latter's scope and validity. That's why theories such as the geocentric theory or even Newtonian mechanics that were once accepted as empirical truths were later discarded when such perceptions were invalidated in light of newer revelations of modern science.
The Absolute cannot be achieved through either thought or language. As Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, who came nearest to proving the futility of all logical speculations to attain the Supreme Truth, confirms, the world is not what it is, but what we think it is.