Mohamed R. answered • 11/15/22
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The issue of how to know the truth or how to acquire knowledge has been discussed among philosophers for centuries. There has been a shift in the meaning of the "truth" starting from the ancient World to the Scholastic era (11-13 centuries), through the Enlightenment age to the Post-modernism era.
In the ancient World, knowing the truth means contemplating the Greater Good. That is evident in the Works of Plato and Aristotle. In the Scholastic era, the focus of knowledge shifts from contemplating the Greater Good (God) to the issue of reason and faith and how to combine them. That is evident in the Works of Anselm and Aquinas, who emphasize the idea of God being omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent and the idea that the essence of God necessitates His existence.
In the Enlightenment era, to know the truth is to live and act in accordance with reason. The "right reason" has become the prevalent idea leading to the focus on the Scientific method. John Lock is an example of the Enlightenment thinking. That explains the emergence of Skeptics who doubt reason and any scientific knowledge. David Hume is an example of those Skeptics who doubt any knowledge, including metaphysics and the scientific inductive method grounded on the cause-effect mechanism.
The Post-modernists, likewise, repudiate "reason." Instead ,they emphasize the power of the Will and emotion, paving the way to the idea of the "absolute freedom." Sartre, for instance, criticizes the Enlightenment thinkers and believes that "reason" is useless. He also thinks that this World is lacking order, and so it is fruitless to plan ahead in life.
Post-modernism is not a new phenomenon, but it is a reaction against the Enlightenment thinking grounded in the notions of reason and objective science. Instead, Post-modernists emphasize subjectivity, individualism, and absolute freedom.
You can use these general ideas to develop an essay on that particular topic.
