Truth and Existence

Philosophical inquiry in the grand tradition, Gelven's sweeping synthesis weds existential thought to a personal philosophy of truth-seeking. Truth, in his lexicon, is a process of unfolding, whether in history, in language, in fictive stories or our own life narratives. A philosophy professor at Northern Illinois University, Gelven posits four primary ways in which we confront truth: taking pleasure, accepting fate, submitting to beauty, acknowledging guilt. Each path has its pitfalls, he admits, but through acts of sheer courage we can confront the truth of our existence without the crutch of an organized belief system. Gelven's accessible essay demolishes the ``false doctrine'' that ``the mind and the world are two separated entities,'' thus restoring the world as ``the ground of truth.'' (Dec.)