Truth in Ancient and Medieval Philosophy

Introduction

While it is sometimes suggested that we are living in a 'post-truth' age wherein the concept of truth is increasingly less relevant, truth nonetheless remains a central concept in science, ethics, and ordinary life. However, what precisely is truth?

The Correspondence Theory of Truth

One common view, the so-called 'correspondence theory of truth', maintains that truth is simply correspondence with the facts. However, such a view faces a number of difficulties and potential objections.

Challenges to the Correspondence Theory

For instance, consider the following questions:

1. What exactly is correspondence?
2. What exactly are facts?
3. If truth is simply correspondence, then why is it the case that correspondence comes in degrees whereas truth is usually agreed not to?
4. How should we deal with certain semantic paradoxes, such as liar paradoxes, which suggest that our conceptions of truth are internally inconsistent?

Historical Context

The notion that truth consists in correspondence goes back to antiquity and the Middle Ages. However, although past philosophers discussed the nature of truth in significant detail and with considerable philosophical sophistication, our understanding of past theories of truth is surprisingly limited.

Gaps in Understanding

We lack a clear idea of how notions of truth developed in later antiquity or in the Arabic and Latin medieval traditions.

Project Overview

This project will offer the first focused and systematic examination of philosophical conceptions of truth in ancient and medieval philosophy.

Objectives

It will examine:

• The origins, motivations, and challenges faced by conceptions of truth in this period.
• How these challenges led to the development of alternative theories of truth.

Methodology

By holistically examining both 'major' and 'minor' figures and texts in this period and combining metaphysical approaches to truth with logical and semantic approaches, this project will offer us a better understanding of a central philosophical issue across the Greek, Arabic, and Latin traditions.

Significance

This will provide greater insight into an extremely rich but often neglected period of philosophy.