A defense of Thomas Aquinas' definition of truth
In the first question of the first article on one of Thomas Aquinas’ work, On Truth (De Veritate), he proposed a definition of truth as follows: Truth is the conformity between the thing and the intellect (Adequatio rei et intellectus). This definition hinges on the notions of what is truth but more...
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| Format: | Final Year Project (FYP) |
| Language: | English |
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Nanyang Technological University
2024
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/180878 |
| _version_ | 1826117221106057216 |
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| author | Lam, Justin Jing Wei |
| author2 | Christophe de Ray |
| author_facet | Christophe de Ray Lam, Justin Jing Wei |
| author_sort | Lam, Justin Jing Wei |
| collection | NTU |
| description | In the first question of the first article on one of Thomas Aquinas’ work, On Truth (De Veritate), he proposed a definition of truth as follows: Truth is the conformity between the thing and the intellect (Adequatio rei et intellectus). This definition hinges on the notions of what is truth but more fundamentally, the notion of being in truth. The concept of “being” for Aquinas is that “being” is anything that exists. A tree is a being, a human person is a being and even non-material concepts are being, like the idea of triangles or dreams because they exist, not materially but conceptually in the mind.
In this paper, I will be attempting to defend Thomas Aquinas’ definition of truth. I will further ground that it is heavily intertwined with “being” and its existence as a real property of things, as extra-mental. I will zoom in more precisely on Aquinas’ idea of truth as con-formity, what it means and how it translates to truth, rather than a correspondence as some might suggest his theory to be.
I will mention a few key criticisms against this definition of truth as conformity and rebut them, concluding it reasonable to accept his theory. |
| first_indexed | 2025-03-09T11:51:32Z |
| format | Final Year Project (FYP) |
| id | ntu-10356/180878 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-03-09T11:51:32Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publisher | Nanyang Technological University |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1808782024-11-02T17:01:15Z A defense of Thomas Aquinas' definition of truth Lam, Justin Jing Wei Christophe de Ray School of Humanities christophe.deray@ntu.edu.sg Arts and Humanities Truth Thomas Aquinas Conformity Correspondence In the first question of the first article on one of Thomas Aquinas’ work, On Truth (De Veritate), he proposed a definition of truth as follows: Truth is the conformity between the thing and the intellect (Adequatio rei et intellectus). This definition hinges on the notions of what is truth but more fundamentally, the notion of being in truth. The concept of “being” for Aquinas is that “being” is anything that exists. A tree is a being, a human person is a being and even non-material concepts are being, like the idea of triangles or dreams because they exist, not materially but conceptually in the mind. In this paper, I will be attempting to defend Thomas Aquinas’ definition of truth. I will further ground that it is heavily intertwined with “being” and its existence as a real property of things, as extra-mental. I will zoom in more precisely on Aquinas’ idea of truth as con-formity, what it means and how it translates to truth, rather than a correspondence as some might suggest his theory to be. I will mention a few key criticisms against this definition of truth as conformity and rebut them, concluding it reasonable to accept his theory. Bachelor's degree 2024-10-31T11:02:36Z 2024-10-31T11:02:36Z 2024 Final Year Project (FYP) Lam, J. J. W. (2024). A defense of Thomas Aquinas' definition of truth. Final Year Project (FYP), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/180878 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/180878 en application/pdf Nanyang Technological University |
| spellingShingle | Arts and Humanities Truth Thomas Aquinas Conformity Correspondence Lam, Justin Jing Wei A defense of Thomas Aquinas' definition of truth |
| title | A defense of Thomas Aquinas' definition of truth |
| title_full | A defense of Thomas Aquinas' definition of truth |
| title_fullStr | A defense of Thomas Aquinas' definition of truth |
| title_full_unstemmed | A defense of Thomas Aquinas' definition of truth |
| title_short | A defense of Thomas Aquinas' definition of truth |
| title_sort | defense of thomas aquinas definition of truth |
| topic | Arts and Humanities Truth Thomas Aquinas Conformity Correspondence |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/180878 |
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