Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-25wd4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T15:00:27.411Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
This chapter is part of a book that is no longer available to purchase from Cambridge Core

8 - Truth as alētheia and the clearing of beyng

Daniel O. Dahlstrom
Affiliation:
Boston University
Bret W. Davis
Affiliation:
Loyola University Maryland
Get access

Summary

The Greek word alētheia is typically translated as “truth”. Once this translation is in place, interpretations of alētheia trade on the meanings primarily associated with “truth”. The traditionally dominant meaning in this regard is correctness (the correctness of a thought or assertion) and, in fact, as early as Homer, a cognate of correctness, homoiōsis, served as a synonym for alētheia. Thus the correctness (orthotes) of a thought or assertion tends to be understood in terms of its agreement or correspondence (homoiōsis) with a state of affairs. Nevertheless, Heidegger takes exception to the interpretation of alētheia as correctness or correspondence alone, regarding it as a derivative notion of truth. This sort of interpretation overlooks the fact that alētheia has a much richer significance that notions of correctness presuppose. Alētheia in that more basic sense signifies the “unhiddenness” (Unverborgenheit) of what is asserted. For example, “The tree is sprouting” is true, that is, correct, only if the tree shows sprouts. Since what is hidden is hidden from someone, truth as the unhiddenness of “things” also entails their actual or potential presence to someone, someone with an understanding of them. The unhiddenness signified by alētheia is accordingly irreducible to either subjects or objects. Not surprisingly, so taken were certain Greek thinkers with this sheer manifestness or presence of things that they identified it as a principal way of saying of something that it exists.

Type
Chapter
Information
Martin Heidegger
Key Concepts
, pp. 116 - 127
Publisher: Acumen Publishing
Print publication year: 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×