“The truth (or reality) isolation is a lie half; only the context of the full”, Abel Flores
The phrase “no context, no truth” sums up one of the premises deeper analytical thinking, historical and spiritual. Any statement, text, fact, or human experience acquires a meaning only within the contextual framework in which it is produced. Stripping a text or event from its context, it is to mutilate his essence, to distort their meaning, and, ultimately, to misrepresent the truth.
This idea is not only a hermeneutical principle self —study of ancient texts or religious— but a universal law of knowledge: nothing can be understood in isolation. To understand means to locate, match, and place each item in their historical setting, cultural, linguistic, psychological, and existential.
The context as the basis of the truth
The context is the set of circumstances —temporal, cultural, linguistic, social or personal— that shape the meaning of something. The truth, therefore, is not an abstract object that floats in the void, but is the result of a relationship between the facts and their frame of reference.
For example:
- In an ancient text, a word can have a meaning entirely different according to the age or culture.
- In a conversation, a sentence can be interpreted as irony or sincerity depending on the tone and the situation.
- In the story, a political act, it may seem heroic or tyrannical according to the social context, or moral of his time.
Thus, the context not only explains, but rather determines the truth. Truth without context, is a half-truth, and a half-truth is, in essence, a form of lying.
Context and ancient texts
In the study of ancient texts —such as the Bible, the Torah, the Mishnah or the Talmud— the context is the key interpretative key. Each word was written in a framework of cultural and language specific.
The Hebrew, for example, is a symbolic language and multiplicity: one root can express multiple dimensions of spiritual thought, or moral. Without understanding their semantic context and historical, the modern reader runs the risk of interpreting literally what was written in the key mystical, legal, or poetic.
Hence, the jewish wise men have always insisted on the Oral Tradition (Mishnah) as the vehicle for the context: it explains what the text is written only hinted at. Understanding the context is to understand the original intent, purpose, divine or human, which gave way to the text.
Context in the thinking, communication, and life
The principle “without context there is no truth” transcends the exegesis, textual and applies to all human interaction.
- In journalism, a headline without context, you can manipulate the public perception.
- In science, a fact without context can lead to false conclusions.
- In everyday life, to judge a person or an action, without knowing their history or circumstances is an act of injustice cognitive.
The context humanizes the truth. It forces us to look beyond the surface, to understand the causes, the nuances and intentions. Teaches us that the understanding is not immediate, but rather the result of a process of empathy, observation and analysis.
Dimension philosophical and spiritual
From a philosophical perspective, the context is the space where the truth is revealed. Plato sought the pure ideas, but Aristotle understood that the truth is made at the individual substance: in what is, in your time and in your way.
In Hebrew thought, the truth (emet) implies fidelity to the whole of being, not a part of it. For that reason, knowing the context is know all around the fact.
The Talmud teaches that “the wise man is one who sees the consequences”, that is to say, who understand the context before and after the act. The context gives time perspective and morale; the truth is the result of seeing the full picture, not a fraction of the same.
Implications for the pursuit of knowledge
Ok, that “without context there is no truth” involves renouncing dogmatism. Requires the critical thinking, to study, to research and to the interpretative caution.
This principle requires us to:
- Do some research before you comment.
- Analyze before you judge.
- Understand before responding.
The context becomes, as well, in the instrument of truth and the antidote to manipulation. All true knowledge is contextualized; all knowledge of context is potentially false.
The phrase “without context there is no truth” is not a simple observation, hermeneutic, but a philosophical statement and moral. It reminds us that the truth is not found in isolated fragments, but in the relations that bind them.
In the ancient texts, the context reveals the spirit behind the letter. In the life, the context reveals the soul behind the acts. And in the thinking, the context reveals the meaning behind the words.
Seek the truth is, in essence, look for the context. Because only those who understand the all you can truly understand a part. And only the one who sees the context can reach the truth.
