To what extent is truth different in mathematics, the arts and

ethics?
Done by: Eman Dhaif

The truth is commonly known as something that conforms to reality and confirmation is achieved

by ascertaining of a particular piece of knowledge. Therefore humans classify knowledge as the truth

when they are ascertained of it. This raises the knowledge question: Are the methods of achieving

absolute certainty, the same for mathematics, the arts, and ethics?

Mathematics is defined as the abstract science of number, quantity, and space, either as abstract

concepts (pure mathematics), or as applied to other disciplines such as physics and engineering

(applied mathematics).1 In mathematics mathematicians have the concept of rigorous proof, which

leads to knowing something with complete certainty. Mathematicians prove or falsify theories by

means of mathematical proof. For instance, 2+8=10 is a mathematical truth, but that doesnt

eliminate the fact that 3+7=10 and 5+5=10 are mathematical truths as well. Therefore, a

mathematical truth can be achieved in many ways as long as it can be proved by means of

mathematical proof. However, mathematical truths arent always applicable in real life situations.

For example, the Penrose Triangle:

1
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/mathematics
In mathematics, it is geometrically impossible for an object like the above to exist in the real life.

The Penrose Triangle is therefore mathematically false because there is no way in which

mathematicians could prove, or be ascertain of the geometric reality of this triangle. On the other

hand, in the arts, this triangle is obviously true as the only evidence needed to prove its existence is

the fact that it is possible to draw the Penrose triangles. Therefore, it is concluded that what might be

proved as certainly true in the arts could be also proved as certainly false in mathematics. We

can, therefore, conclude that Mathematics is sometimes seen as being at the opposite end of the

spectrum from art in the sense that it offers us something that is built on absolute objectivity, which

only works if every element of its structure is in alignment with each other.2

Secondly, the arts can be defined as the expression or application of human creative skill and

imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be

appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. In the arts, while people do generally

agree on the merit of a lot of art pieces, the definition of true art is in the end, a matter of personal

opinion. I asked my classmates and family members about their own definition of true the arts, and

some their responses are as follows:

- True art, to me, is anything that is aesthetically pleasing

- True art can be expressed in everything, in [polite] manners, in food, in music, etc. In short,

true art to me is doing or achieving anything in the finest way possible

- True art, to me, is anything that is done genuinely and with care

The New Websters Dictionary definition of art is the use of the imagination to make things of

aesthetic significance. This definition, therefore, limits the creation of the arts to the use of

[human] imagination and excludes other forms of the arts that are not a result of that process, such

2
http://www.theoryofknowledge.net/areas-of-knowledge/mathematics/
as raw3 physical features, nature, and the universe as a whole, which do have an aesthetic

significance but are by no means, a creation of the human imagination. These responses show how

the definition of true art varies greatly from one person to another. It can also be noticed that there

is a general agreement that aesthetic significance, is for many people, a condition for what they

consider true art. Nonetheless, To call something aesthetically pleasing is in essence to call it

beautiful. 4, and the definition of beauty is also subjective, because what person A might consider

beautiful, might not be the same as what person B considers beautiful, or what might I consider

beautiful now, might as well, not consider beautiful tomorrow, and so on. Oscar Wilde said To

define is to limit Consequently, a definition of true art is nearly impossible to attain, because unlike

mathematics, there is are rigorous proof or criteria of what a piece of art should look like, because

humans value the merit of a particular piece of based on their emotions, sense perception, and

imagination, which can be quite variable, depending on a persons age, gender, nationality, etc.,

which cant be limited in a single category. Therefore, achieving certainty about what should and

shouldnt be considered true arts is a matter of personal opinion and preference.

Thirdly, ethics, which are defined as the Moral principles that govern a person's behavior or the

conducting of an activity5 The act of deciding of what should or shouldnt be considered ethically

true depends on several factors: religion, culture, traditions, personal experience, and reason. For

instance, as a Muslim, I consider abortion to be ethically wrong because I have read several Islamic

scripts, and learned that abortion is unethical because the right of the creation and destruction of lives

is exclusive to God Almighty, making abortion a form of murder in Islam, and murder, under normal

circumstances, is ethically wrong. However, if I wasnt a Muslim, I might have considered abortion

to be ethically right, for example, due the fact that I believe that women should be granted the

freedom of choosing whether or not they would like to give birth to the fetus or not, since I believe

3
Not altered by any means of makeup, plastic surgeries, etc.; as they were originally created
4
ell.stackexchange.com/questions/15755/what-does-aesthetic-mean
5
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/ethics
that a fetus shouldnt be considered a human until it has been given birth to, and therefore aborting

the fetus wouldnt be an act of murder because a fetus isnt a human in the first place. Therefore, in

this case, it is my religion and not my own reason nor personal experience that dictated whether I

consider abortion to be ethical or not. Therefore, ethical judgments are indefinite in nature, because

looking at them several different perspectives can lead to the arrival of a diverse number of ethical

conclusions, thus, creating a conflict between the ethics of one person and another. In addition, a

good example to illustrate the difference between the truth in mathematics and ethics is the trolley

problem or dilemma which is a thought experiment in ethics. The problem is this: A trolley is

hurtling down a track towards five people. You are on a bridge under which it will pass, and you can

stop it by putting something very heavy in front of it. As it happens, there is a very fat man next to

you your only way to stop the trolley is to push him over the bridge and onto the track, killing him

to save five. Should you proceed?6 Mathematically, youd have 6 persons, so pushing the fat man
5 1 5 1
will save but leaving him would save only, but >6, and therefore it would be more sensible to
6 6 6

favor the bigger number of people, and therefore push the fat man into the track in order to save the

other five people. However, ethically speaking, a person may not be as sure in making the decision

of saving the five people or sparing the fat mans life. On one hand, if a person decides to kill the fat

man in order to save the other five people, he would be murdering a presumably innocent man,

which is unethical. In this case, the person would be choosing to kill the fat mans life because he

assumes that the other five peoples lives are more valuable than the life of valuable man, only

because he happens to be at the wrong place in the wrong time, which is to some extent, unethical.

On the other hand, if a person chooses to do nothing, and allow the train to kill the five people, he

would sacrifice five people in favor of saving one person. In this case, a person would choose not to

interfere in the situation, either because he would not want to be responsible for the murder of an

innocent man, or because he thinks that this whole situation has nothing to do with him, as he is a

6 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_problem
mere spectator of this whole situation. Therefore, in the situations in which a mathematical truth may

contradict an ethical truth, a person is put under the ethical pressure of choosing the right (ethical)

thing to do instead of the mathematically true thing to do. Thus, certainty in ethics is achieved by

several different ethical and moral values that may not necessarily correspond to mathematical logic.

To conclude, to answer the initial knowledge question, Are the methods of achieving absolute

certainty, the same for mathematics, the arts, and ethics? the answer as we have seen is no; the

methods of achieving certainty sometimes differ to great extents in mathematics, the arts and ethics.

This is because if a given problem was viewed from the three perspectives (mathematics, the arts and

ethics), each would have presented three true answers, with a proper justification that compliments

each area. Nonetheless, the truth in one area might possibly contradict the truth in another, which

doesnt mean that any of them is mistaken nor inadequately backed by several true claims, but

rather, that each area has its own system of approaching the truth and that the differences between

their approaches isnt meant to falsify the other approaches of other areas, but rather to demonstrate a

different approach to certainty and the truth altogether.