THINKER'S ALMANAC - September 27

How did Socrates illustrate the quest for truth by talking about a toppled statue?

Subject:  Epistemology - The Warren Report and Daedalus’ Statues

Event:  The Warren Report is published, 1964

When I think of the most able students I have encountered in my teaching - I mean those who have distinguished themselves not only by skill but by independence of thought - then I must confess that all have had a lively interest in epistemology. -Albert Einstein

In very simple words, the quotation above encapsulates the purpose of one of the key branches of philosophy.  It is called epistemology: the study or theory of knowledge.  If we are, as Socrates stated, to live examined lives, we must be able to tell what is true from what is false.  The quest for the truth and the questioning of the truth is the core of epistemology.  

In Plato’s Meno, Socrates presents a metaphor to illustrate how belief differs from knowledge.  He began by describing a statue by the Greek sculptor Daedalus -- you might remember him from another story about his son, Icarus.  It was said that Daedalus’ statues were so life-like that they needed to be tethered to prevent their walking away.  Socrates compared a true belief to an untethered statue that might be easily lost or toppled.  Knowledge, however, was a statue that was tethered by cables, giving it stability.  A statue anchored by reason and tethered by examined counterarguments will stand strong even against a strong wind or storm.

                                            Socrates - Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay 

One of the most important quests for truth ever published came in the form of the 888-page Warren Report issued on this day in 1964. The goal of the report was to establish the truth behind who assassinated President John F. Kennedy on November 29, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. The commission, chaired by Chief Justice Earl Warren, concluded that a lone assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald killed Kennedy.

From the moment the Warren Report was published, its validity was questioned.  In the true epistemological tradition, several of these critics were philosophers who were not convinced by the evidence presented. 

One of the skeptical philosophers was Josiah Thompson, who completed his own extensive investigation into the evidence.  In his 1967 book Six Seconds in Dallas: A Micro-Study of the Kennedy Assassination, Thompson concluded that it was impossible for Oswald to have acted alone.  He closely examined the physical evidence and eyewitness testimony, including the Zebruder film, which captured the six-second sequence of gunshots that took President Kennedy’s life.  Because Thompson believed that it was impossible for Oswald to have fired his rifle three times in six seconds, he concluded that there must have been a second gunman.

Of course, Thompson is just one of hundreds of authors and filmmakers who have questioned the Warren Report’s conclusion.  Kennedy’s assassination is a moment in time that demonstrates the elusive nature of truth.  Even though there were dozens of eyewitnesses and a color film of the assassination, every second of the events in Dallas’ Dealey Plaza continue to be debated (1).

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason: What is epistemology, and how does it relate to Daedulus’ statues and the Warren Report?

 

Challenge - True or False?:  Do some research on quotations relating to truth and falsehood.  What is the best, most insightful quote you can find about either truth, falsehood, or the relationship between the two concepts?  What is the quotation, who said it, and why do you think it is important?

ALSO ON THIS DAY:

-September 27, 1777:  On this day, the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, became the nation’s capital for a single day.  Developments in the Revolutionary War forced the Second Continental Congress to pack up and move from the original capital city, Philadelphia.

-September 27, 1962:  On this day, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, a book that helped launch the environmental movement, was published.  Carson’s book altered the public to the destructive toll of pesticides like DDT: "Over increasingly large areas of the United States, spring now comes unheralded by the return of birds, and the early mornings, once filled with the beauty of bird song, are strangely silent." 

-September 27, 1992:  On this day the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) made a presentation to persuade the general public that “movie popcorn is fatty.”  Standing in front of table covered with a smorgasbord of greasy entrees, the CSPI spokesperson’s message what short but sticky:  “A medium-sized ‘butter’ popcorn at a typical neighborhood movie theater contains more artery-clogging fat than a bacon-and-eggs breakfast, a Big Mac and fries for lunch, and a steak dinner with all trimmings -- combined!” See THINKER’S ALMANAC - May 13.

Sources:

1-Madigan, Tim.  “The Warren Report.”  Philosophy Now March/April 2008.

Preview for September 28: How did the closing argument in O.J. Simpson’s 1995 murder trial illustrate an important rhetorical principle?