Verum Ex Logica

Verum Ex Logica, Latin for "Truth From Logic", deals with questions that cannot be known yet with higher certainty via empirical evidence. Thus we are left with logic until science reaches a point where such questions can be empirically addressed.

Historical Examples

Questions and truth do not magically cease to exist simply because they evade robust empirical inquiry. In many cases throughout history, humans have thought the universe had to be one way because we couldn't see beyond our own horizon. This lack of empirical evidence didn't suddenly make the sun revolve around the Earth or the Milky Way the sole galaxy in the cosmos.

Take, for instance, Giordano Bruno (1548–1600) who proposed an infinite universe of innumerable worlds, suns, and possibly alien life. He also held some unorthodox theological views which in conjunction with his cosmological conjectures, led to his execution by burning in 1600 CE.

Immanuel Kant, the 18th-century German philosopher, built upon these ideas of Giordano Bruno to propose that the Milky Way was just one of many “island universes” or galaxies as we refer to them today. In 1920, Edwin Hubble provided conclusive observational evidence that the Andromeda “nebula” was in fact a separate galaxy. Today, the number of galaxies discovered is closer to 2 trillion.

Prior to this empirical evidence, were all scholars that claimed there was only one galaxy wrong? Or were they right to conclude there was only one galaxy until concrete empirical evidence existed to prove there were more?

This conundrum reflects the principle of epistemic humility: the idea that what we cannot yet observe may still exist. The fact that someone is “right” in hindsight does not necessarily mean their belief was justified at the time or that dismissing other possibilities was reasonable.

A Modern Example

One modern example is the assertion that there is only one universe. Since we currently lack any means of detecting other universes, many scientists maintain that the only scientifically defensible position is to assume there is only one. Yet history reminds us that absence of evidence is not always evidence of absence.

A better way to approach this uncertainty is by utilizing probabilities. We cannot say for certain whether there is one or many universes but we can use logic to constrain our probability ranges.

Thus, this probabilistic knowledge as to if there is more than one universe should be placed in the Verum Ex Logica category as attempts are made to find methods to empirically test it and therefore move it out of this category.

Clarifications

To clarify, this is not to say that infinite universes is empirical and absolutely certain. Rather, it is a Verum Ex Logica question which given Doctrina Ultra considerations leans us in favor that the phenomenon of universes arising has occurred more than once and probably infinitely across a greater Ultraverse.

Therefore, unless empirical evidence is found that prohibits universes from emerging (despite our universe's existence being powerful evidence against such postulates), then a multiplicity of emergence should be understood as more likely than a ceaseless, never ending, and omnipresent dearth.

Omnis Casus

Omnis Casus or "All Chances" is the concept of considering all truths simultaneously such as with a distribution of probabilities.

For example, you may expect an eternity will pass before you live as the homeless person you saw recently, but it could also be tomorrow. Holding these probabilities simultaneously may spur more action than just the understanding that it will eventually come to pass.

See Also

 ➤ Infinite Journey: Doctrina Ultra, Ultraverse

 ➤ Wikipedia: Empirical Evidence, Logic, Science, Epistemic Humility