An Examination of the Notion of Truth in Udo Etuk's “The New Humanism”

Abstract

The question “What is truth?” is a classic philosophical problem which seeks to unravel the basis for the truth of a statement. This entails finding out what we mean when we say that a statement is true. Are we attributing a property to the statement when we say that it is true, and if so, what property? The question also involves determining the necessary and sufficient conditions of its truth, that is, it is true if and only if what? In his book, The New Humanism, Udo Etuk propelled by the passion to repudiate the anti-theocratic posture of secular humanism explores some perennial philosophical issues such as the notion of man, reason, knowledge and truth. He sees truth as being in a state of firmness and unshakable conviction. Thus, the paper examines this conception of truth as regards its contribution to the discourse on truth in epistemology. In order to achieve this objective, the paper presents a synopsis of the attempts to define truth. It outlines the tenets and thesis of The New Humanism as a philosophy. In addition, it exposes the notion of truth as espoused in Udo Etuk's The New Humanism. Finally, it gives a critical look at Udo Etuk's notion of truth.