In the fourth chapter of his book titled Native Pragmatism, Scott L. Pratt makes one claim about truth and bias. He states that “when the faculties of knowing are interfered with by bias, perhaps generated by a love of wealth or power, the truth may be obscured” (Pratt 65). This passage and the statement take place when Pratt explores the roots of the idea concerning the unity of humankind and the way that it affected prominent thinkers’ political perspectives. Before introducing this thought, the author discusses the idea of fundamental similarities between different individuals and their influences on cognition and coming to a common ground.
The reason why this specific passage has been selected for discussion refers to the lack of specificity in this paragraph. Other sections of the chapter demonstrate the uses of factual and verifiable statements regarding Bancroft’s and Jefferson’s biographies and the emergence of their philosophies. In contrast, the selected passage is aimed at providing a more generalized conclusion regarding interpersonal similarities. It also covers the degree to which similarities promote every person’s ability to understand truths referring to various conclusions about the world.
This despecification and generalization when it comes to truth and the ability to access and understand it is what I find unclear about the presented quote and the passage in general. Particularly, the author mentions rather specific types of biases that may obscure one’s thinking and understanding but does not provide a comprehensive definition of truth in this case, which makes the statement a bit confusing. For instance, there is a great difference between religious/aesthetic and scientific truths in terms of the presence and types of evidence that supports their existence. Truths do not necessarily refer to something unchangeable and easy to prove since firm religious beliefs can also be understood as subjective truths in certain contexts because they form people’s perceptions of reality. Thus, to clarify the meaning of the passage, even more, I would ask the following question: does the term “truth” include both objective and subjective truths in this case?
Reference
Pratt, Scott L. Native Pragmatism: Rethinking the Roots of American Philosophy. Indiana University Press, 2002.