ASSESSING RICHARD RORTY’S STRAIN OF TRUTH IN HUMAN COMPOSTING

Resumen

The world is witnessing a cultural shift toward greener death care alternative aside from the normal traditional methods of burials. The traditional conventions of burial have been touted to releasing volatile organic compounds that are toxic to human bioaccumulate tissues as a result of decomposition, while cremation burns fossils and negatively contributes to climate change, at the same time, releasing toxic fumes into the ecosystem. Interestingly though, a group of people mostly in the United States of America known as Recompose Community have decided to explore a more eco-friendly alternative (EFA) or perhaps a more sustainable end of life alternative (SELA). So, human composting becomes a new innovation of disposing the human remains. It is the idea that what is left of us when our spirits depart will be promptly recycled back into the living ecosystem rather than slowly releasing harmful chemicals into the earth. But then, various religious groups express contradictory views on the best method of burying the dead bodies. This contradictions however, dovetail with Richard Rorty’s claims that humans are constantly situated within contradictory truth claims and none of these claims can be established with conclusion. I argue therein that if every religion accepts different methods of laying to rest the human remains, it implies that truth is not universal in all circumstances but only finds relevance within one’s cultural peers. Truth therefore becomes universal to the universe of human who found themselves within such a universe of universalities. And this, could be extended to imply that the world does not move in a straight line but in a curve and its direction constantly changes.