Friedrich Nietzsche on the Search for Truth: “There Are No Facts, Only Interpretations”
Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.
At a glance
Interview
Named sources
Context piece
- Philosopher Darío Sztajnszrajber said contemporary philosophy has challenged the traditional idea that philosophy seeks a single, absolute truth.
- Discussing Nietzsche’s claim that there are no facts, only interpretations, he distinguished everyday, scientific and philosophical forms of truth.
- He rejected social-media formulas for happiness and linked personal fulfillment to curiosity, knowledge and continued wonder.
“There are no facts, only interpretations.” For Darío Sztajnszrajber, Friedrich Nietzsche’s provocative phrase captures the circular problem confronting contemporary philosophy: the search for truth can lead some thinkers to conclude that there is no final truth to find.
It has also changed a great deal how we define philosophy and its search. The idea, which still survives in many philosophical currents, that philosophy is the search for truth becomes problematic when some philosophical currents establish that human beings ultimately find the truth, and the truth is that there is no truth.
In an interview with LA NACION, the philosopher said ideas about philosophy and its purpose have changed considerably. The traditional view of philosophy as a search for truth becomes difficult when philosophical currents question whether truth exists in an absolute form.
Sztajnszrajber distinguished among everyday truth, scientific truth and philosophical truth. Everyday and scientific truths are mainly concerned with how things work and with the practical functioning of life. Philosophy, by contrast, may pursue a more ontological question, one connected to general meaning and existence.
There are no facts, only interpretations.
“One thing is for something to work, and another is for it to be true,” he said. That distinction opens a broader question about what people seek when they invoke truth, including whether it can be linked to a more transcendent purpose.
When you enter philosophy, perhaps it is another kind of truth that you are seeking. It is, if you like, more ontological, more concerned with general meaning.
He also rejected the formulas for personal success and happiness that circulate on social media. Instead, he highlighted Epicurus’s idea of ataraxia, understood as freedom from disturbance and the pursuit of modest pleasures. Recalling a phrase from his mother, he described happiness as the absence of external annoyances. At 58, he said he still has no definitive answer about life’s purpose, but finds fulfillment in the desire to know and in maintaining a constant sense of wonder.
One thing is for something to work, and another is for it to be true.
About this summary
Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.
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