What do Men live by? A Search for a Universal Truth

I recently finished the short story “What Men Live By” by Tolstoy and was left inspired greatly. If you have not yet read this short story, I suggest you read it yourself before continuing with this blog post. It's quite short and available for free online. It's something I'd suggest any religious thinker worth their salt to read.

Introduction:

Is there such a thing as a universal truth? And would their existence imply they came from a divine creator? This story tackles love as a universal truth that people live by. They describe those who act with love to have divinity within them. It's easy to say that they mean love is very valuable, but the use of the word divine is intentional. I believe, if stripped from religion, the divine is the pinnacle of good or the universal truth. Though I do not believe these truths to be tethered to the universe such as gravity, but created by humans so early in our development that it is ingrained in every soul. Almost as if we were made to experience such things as love. This as an atheist seems hard to reconcile, so I explore the topic here.

Discussion:

“I have now learned that it is only in appearance that they are kept alive through care for themselves, but that in reality they are kept alive through love. He who dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him, for God is love.” -Tolstoy. Love being divine is a feeling I believe most can share. But what does it mean to call something divine, or call it God as a definition? According to James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” Tolstoy does not say that love is a part of God, but that love is God. Using his framework, we could then swap love for God in James' definition as an exploration into what Tolstoy is saying about love. It would be something like this “all good things come from love”.

Next, we should determine what type of truth we are claiming. A moral truth would be something akin to “to do good things, we are required to love”. A psychological truth would be “to have a good life, you need love”. And a philosophical truth would be “love causes all things good”. Rather than choosing one lens, we can embrace all three. Morality, though subjective, emerges from our shared biology: we produce dopamine, form bonds, and experience empathy. These traits evolved because love, connection, care, cooperation, is advantageous to survival. If goodness flows from love, then perhaps we evolved to love because love creates what is good. In that sense, love isn’t just a feeling, it’s a universal truth embedded in our nature.

Now to turn back towards religion, does the presence of a universal truth mean there must be a God above? Some would say the presence of love implies divine creation as it stretches over all of humanity. Some may even imply this is a moral truth to the universe. I suggest it has evolved from necessity and built along with us as a species. Created by people, for people. There is no proof to think love extends outside of human perception as a universal good.

Lastly, I want to reinforce the idea that all good things come from love. Jordan Peterson says truth itself is a moral imperative. But why would we not lie other than a love for ourselves and others? If we simply did not care for either of those things, we would perceive nothing bad coming out of lying. This is just an example, but analyzing common virtues considered good is important to the claim of love being all things good. Other examples being courage, justice, freedom, and responsibility. Courage to show up and be vulnerable with those we love. Justice to be impartial and treat people fairly. Freedom in love is not holding someone captive. The saying about a butterfly comes to mind, where if you love it you let it go. And responsibility, being there for those we love. “In sickness and in health”, marriage stresses the importance that love and responsibility have in common. And if you have kids, you know how much responsibility comes with love.

Conclusion:

“I have now learned that all men live not by care for themselves but by love”-Tolstoy. After covering all of the above, I think it right to double back to the text at hand. Tolstoy claims in this quote that love is what men live by. And when we break up love as we did above, we can clearly see he has a point. If all things good flow from love, then no amount of greed will make up for it. I see this story as a challenge to embrace discomfort, and show others love at all costs. This story inspired me to go out of my way to love a little more, and to not forget there is so much in this world outside of our control. I was happy to play with the idea of universal truths above. If you thought differently about what universal truths say about the existence of God, please drop a comment. I'd be happy to discuss and see more view points.