The Desire For Absolute Certainty

It is far from being the case that all people necessarily want absolute certainty.  In fact, many people seem to live out entire lifetimes without ever challenging the prevailing fallacies of the day.  Their entire worldviews, with only selective exceptions within those worldviews at best, reduce down to a house of cards that can be dismantled by the slightest wind.  If anyone seeks to verify this, they would need only to ask random people basic philosophical questions--the answers would likely be deeply unsound.

Indeed, some people truly are shallow enough to be apathetic towards matters of epistemology, or perhaps they even think of absolute certainty as something trivial or irrelevant.  The latter type of person may not just voyage through life rejecting the fact that logic grounds numerous absolute certainties (although they are all in some way truths about logic, oneself, or foundational metaphysics).  He or she might go even further and criticize genuine rationalists for insisting on the pursuit of absolute certainty to begin with.

Accordingly, they might label the quest for absolute certainty a "fool's errand," regardless of what they think about the intrinsic veracity of logical axioms.  The very intent to discover what can be proven with absolute certainty is regarded as asinine or even dangerous to individual and societal wellbeing.  In the place of utter logical certainty, persuasion, extrapolations, and assumptions are held up as worthy epistemological methods.  Stupidity is always at the heart of this stance, but fear of unwanted ramifications and fear of the effort necessary to construct a sound worldview can motivate people to adopt this approach as well.

A denial or dismissal of absolute certainty can be a defense mechanism, as anyone who is intelligent enough to see that things like the existence of other minds, the veracity of a particular value system, and the nature of the material world beyond its mere existence (and the fact that it is bound by reason, of course) are ultimately uncertain might try to flee direct acknowledgment of the need to abandon unverifiable beliefs.  Absolute certainty does not extend into certain aspects of life that many people have or could easily develop deep insecurities about.  Thus, some attempt to avoid an existential crisis by simply ignoring strict logicality.

The desire for absolute certainty might very well be what triggers many existential crises, but it is also the only thing that can ultimately rescue us from them.  Some things can be known with absolute certainty [1], and it is this fact that can serve as the foundation for personal security in an epistemological sense.  This is especially the case when someone realizes that far more than logical axioms and one's consciousness can be known with absolute certainty [2].  Far more is epistemologically demonstrable than almost anyone interested in philosophy seems to realize.

Even if only those two aspects of reality could be known (logical axioms and one's own mind respectively), seeking absolute certainty in those areas would not be foolish, dangerous, or destined for failure.  Similarly, the search for absolute certainty would not be a superficial thing.  There is nothing shallow about longing for the supreme clarity and absolute certainty that nothing and no one can provide other than logic.  Indeed, there is nothing deeper than the pursuit of verifiable truths, an endeavour that has no room for heeding the baseless criticisms of those who fear or deny absolute certainty.


[1].  https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2017/12/metaphysics-and-absolute-certainty.html

[2].  https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-extent-of-absolute-certainty.html