UNIVERSITY OF LATVIA
History and Philosophy Faculty
History of Philosophy Department
Mara Kiope
Summary of the Promotion Paper
Possibility of the Truth Experience
in Linguisticality
Doctoral Thesis to Attain a Doctoral Degree in Philosophy
Subdepartment: History of Philosophy
Rīga, 2008
23
I. The Theme of the Promotion Paper
The processes taking place in the world, European and Latvian philosophies
determine the significance and urgency of the promotion paper theme in the
context of contemporary history of philosophy investigations. An investigation
devoted to a philosophical analysis of the truth has an especial significance for the
development of Latvian society, and the sphere of education in accordance with
the traditions of European culture and democracy, in particular.
The status of the problem of truth in contemporary philosophy is laid bare
by content analysis of definitions of the concept of truth available in some
philosophical encyclopedias. The definitions mainly accentuate the connection of
the scientifically substantiated concept of truth with cognition and knowledge. On
the other hand, attention is drawn to the historicity of truth and factors of cultural
history influencing its understanding. In the classification of the truth paradigms
predominates the explication of the theories of correspondence and coherence.
However, this promotion paper concentrates on the paradigmatic view of
the ontology of truth or truth as the truth of being. Only ontological truth
can be existentially significant because it embraces man's being-in-the-world in
its relationship with Being. From this point of view the traditional concept of
truth worked out by St Thomas Aquinas in an original system synthesizing the
definitions of Plato, Aristotle and medieval authors comes to the fore. Seven
centuries later M.Heidegger breathes new life into the problem of ontologism
of truth asking about the ontological foundation for the coherence of intellect
and thing determined in the traditional truth concept. Hans-Georg Gadamer who
revives the continuity of hermeneutical tradition in Western culture develops
further Heidegger's initiatives in the original philosophical hermeneutics.
The reasons the theme was chosen are as follows: in the first place, it is the
process of development of contemporary philosophy and its subsection, history
of philosophy. In this particular case it refers to the expansion of the problem of
truth as the fundamental problem in the philosophy of the XX century, mainly
in connection with the investigations of philosophical problems of language;
ever more persistent integration of discoveries of medieval philosophy into
contemporary problem investigations and finally, strengthening the synthesis
of the theoretical solution of problems with history of philosophy approach in
European research centres. Secondly, the choice of the theme is to be regarded
as an answer to the situation of philosophy in Latvia when it is possible to freely
investigate the so-called Western philosophy themes including those of the history
of philosophy that were subjected to ideologically motivated censorship in not
so very distant past. In this respect of importance is the philosophical analytics
of St Thomas Aquinas offering an original investigative view on the scholastic
24 _______________________________________________________________________
language of being and gratifying material in mastering the medieval period of
history of philosophy: it is necessary for Latvian philosophy to precisely master
and have a good command of the heritage of medieval philosophy both on the
level of scientific research and in the process of studying philosophy. Thirdly,
the investigation results of the promotion paper can be used in perfecting the
Latvian value orientation system of education, truth being the most important
value of human existence although its solution as a value problem is theoretically
difficult, as is evidenced by the efforts of the XX century philosophy. Thus, the
investigation of the latest achievements in the solution of the great and eternal
problem of truth in this promotion paper acquires an exceptional urgency in
the context of contemporary social life in Latvia. Obviously, the restoration
of sense interpretation in conformity with the highest European principles and
values is possible in our society, as shown by M.Heidegger, reviving life with the
help of truth. It means that society feels a necessity for forming such a practice of
discourse of truth in public space that is based on philosophically stable theoretical
bases. Thus, the promotion paper stimulates the appearance of an interdisciplinary
approach to the investigation of the problem of truth forming a theoretical basis
on a philosophical level for social, political sciences and humanities as well as
drawing the attention of scientists of other branches and intellectuals of other
spheres to the solution of the problem of truth as value. Thus, for instance, the
Pacific Lutheran University professor G. Ķēniņš-Kings points out that the value
orientation of Latvia's new economic leaders is pragmatic, not truth-directed. What
they value most are their personal achievements and those of their organization.
However, "it should be taken into consideration that they are useful to the chief
executives in different circumstances. Such leaders in Latvia can serve different
bosses and many powers". 1 That is why the solution of the problem of truth in
the promotion paper is a contribution to practical solutions of value-oriented
education2 and hence a better perspective of social life.
The subjective aspect determining the choice of the theme is the author's as
a philosopher's calling that manifested itself as a claim of conscience to elucidate
by intellectual means the theoretical status of the problem of TRUTH in present
day philosophy. In this context the most appropriate appears the view of truth as
Ķeniņš Kings G. American Experience to Enterprise Leadership. Selection for
Business-like Discussions. - Apgāds Biznesa Partneri, R., 2002, p. 234.
1
2
The author of the promotion paper has approbated the investigation results in
lectures to pedagogues and in publications. See: "Religious Experience in Latvia
Today: Value Contextualization" // HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES.
LATVIA. The European Connection Baltic Intellectuals and the History of Western
Philosophy and Theology. - University of Latvia, 2 (48)/ 2006, pp. 104-12 and:
"Educational System and Christian Values" // Christian Values and Modernity
Challenge. Europe and Latvia. Edited by Maija Kūle - FSI, 2005, pp.101-119.
______________________________________________________________25
experience that grows out of phenomenology and immediately reveals truth as
the status of man's existential truth. In its turn, the concept of the POSSIBILITY
of experience characterizes transcendental philosophy, i.e., philosophy that
investigates the preconditions of the possibility of experience, the way they are
given in man's consciousness - this approach, one could say, is the symbol of
contemporary philosophy. It permeates also the XX century hermeneutics that
grows out of phenomenology and where the problems of truth are worked out
in the CONTEXT OF LINGUISTICALITY. It means that linguisticality is a
structure of language ontology being-in-the-world or a characteristic of language
as a world in between intellect and things.
The Aim and the Task of the Investigation
The aim is to reveal the philosophic-theoretical position of the problem of
truth in the philosophy of the XX and XXI centuries taking into account the
hermeneutical character of truth and viewing the problem of truth in the context
of hermeneutical tradition as the main tradition of European culture. To ensure
the implementation of the aim of the promotion paper the following tasks are
assigned:
• Basing on the XX century hermeneutical philosophy to discover the
methodological structure to be used in investigating the genesis of the
hermeneutics of truth in the medieval scholastic philosophy, especially
that of St Thomas Aquinas;
• Making use of the hermeneutical approach investigating the genesis of
the traditional concept of truth in the philosophy of St Thomas Aquinas
revealing the possibility of the truth experience in linguisticality in the
scholastic philosophy;
• The analytic of the solution process of the problem of truth as a value
problem in the philosophy of the XX century laying bare the theoretical
difficulties on account of which the problem of truth as a value problem
could not be solved (and is not solved as yet) within the framework of
axiology and how it is solved as a value problem in M.Heidegger's beingtruth conceptualization;
• The analytic of the perception of linguisticality in H -G. Gadamer's
hermeneutics presenting the linguistic process of understanding as the
medium of truth possibility;
• Marking the perspective for the solution of the problem of truth in the
context of linguistic experience in the theoretical investigations of the
XXI century philosophers.
26 ______________________________________________________________
Scholarly achievements in the investigation of the theme: The theme of the
promotion paper is originally formulated; related, but not analogous investigations
are available in the treatises in contemporary history of philosophy.
A. In modern philosophy in the world and elsewhere in Europe. In
the first place, philosophical investigations connected with the theme of the
promotion paper are investigations of medieval philosophy, especially as regards
the context of followers of Thomism. One should especially accentuate the
innovative investigations of the authors of the Netherlands school L.J. Elders and
J.A. Aertsen3 essentially supplementing the medieval investigative facilities with
transcendentality including truth as the analytic of transcendentality. Neo-Thomist
authors' investigations are substantially helpful in understanding medieval thinking,
as, for instance, Maritain's treatise on scholastics and art as well as the prominent
Latvian philosopher S.Ladusāns' S.J. investigations of many-sided gnoseology
that are of help in understanding the structure of intellectuality formed by St
Thomas Aquinas, especially as regards the so-called inner senses.4 The author of
the promotion paper has made use of the investigations of the authors who worked
in the middle of the XX century doing extensive research in separate problems of
the philosophy of Thomism, as, for instance, K.Fabro, F. Coplestone, R.GarrigouLagrange, A. Pegis and others. The author of the promotion paper has taken into
account the work of Neo-Thomists of analytical tradition: A.Kenny's detailed
research into intellectual processes, E.Stump's analytics on the interconnection
of the biblical exegesis and philosophy in Aquinas' system and R. McInnerney's
work Ethica Thomistica that stimulated the US student interest in Thomism5 and
the fundamental research work of the same author into the problem of analogatus
in Aquinas's philosophy 6. In the fifties of the XX century B. Lonergan, SJ
made a remarkable contribution to bringing philosophical thinking nearer to St
Thomas Aquinas's understanding of language philosophy while investigating
3
Elders L.J. The Metaphysics of Being of St Thomas Aquinas in a Historical Perspective
-E.J. Brill, Leiden, N.Y., Köln, 1993 and Aersten J.A. Medieval Philosophy and the
Transcendentals. The Case of Thomas Aquinas - E.J.Brill, Leiden, N.Y., Köln, 1996
4
S. Ladusāns elaborates on the theme already in 1938 in Rome at the defence of
his dissertation at the Gregor Pontifical University. Thus, it must be noted that the
promotion paper opens up a new perspective in investigating philosophical Letonics
because S.Ladusāns' world level achievements in philosophy cannot be appraised
without understanding the problems of innermost feelings that are an integral part of
his conception of "cognitive phenomenology" (in terms of Prof. Maija Kūle).
5
Lisska A. J. Aquinas s Theory of Natural Law. An Analytic Reconstruction - Clarendon
Press, Oxford, [1996]. p. 50.
6
McInnerney R.M. The Logic of Analogy On Interpretation of Analogy. - The
Hague, Mārtiņus Nijhoff, 1961.
27
his conception of inner word. 7 Academic interest in St Thomas's language of
being has an impressive tradition, however, in the multifarious and very well
worked out lists of Thomism bibliography and electronic catalogues there are
no investigations viewing the genesis of the traditional concept of truth in
connection with the problems of the language of being in Aquinas's works.
Thus, the results of this investigation announce a new turn in the investigation of
medieval philosophy.
At present in the most important centres of medieval studies and Catholic
universities in the USA, Canada and Europe a wide-ranging project aimed at
translating into English all of the works by St Thomas Aquinas is under way.
Thanks to the already existing extensive academic aids available publishing
Thomas Aquinas's texts both in Latin and many modern languages the author
had the possibility to make good use of the sources of Thomism philosophy. In
this connection one cannot fail noticing the contribution of Russian intellectuals
(S.Neretin, A. Apolonov, T. Borodai, V. Gaidenko). In neighbouring Lithuania
philosophers in cooperation with American centres of Thomism organize
international conferences and publish collections of works devoted to St Thomas's
philosophy.
Secondly, the author of the promotion paper has taken into account discoveries
and achievements of contemporary philosophy in the sphere of hermeneutics
examining an impressive range of secondary literature the authors of which
analyze H.G. Gadamer's hermeneutics in relation to the problem of truth.
Thirdly, the promotion paper embraces academic treatises viewing different
aspects of the problem of truth. One should by all means mark the unsurpassable
contribution of Italian authors, and especially the investigations of the teaching
staff of the Lateran Pontifical University in truth (A.Livi's essays on the influence
the change of understanding the concept sensus communis made on the truth
theory in the XX century; the investigations of H. Seidl, R. Di Ceglie, J. Mura,
D.Sacchi). It should be noted that the list of Italian philosophers investigating
the problem of truth in this or that aspect is so impressive that one can speak of
the tradition of truth philosophy in Italy. That is evidently a reflection both of
the self-confidence of Italian philosophy remembering the humanism period of
Renaissance and the special importance of Italian universities in the development
of Catholic intellectualism. At the beginning of the XXI century the work of
the authors who examine the possibilities of extending man's experience as
a way of increasing the facilities of intellect openness (M. Eliade, J. Caputo,
P. Berger and O.Blanchette) form the analytical basis for the philosophical
7
Lonergan B.J. Verbum Word and Idea in Aquinas. (Ed.by D.B. Burrell, CSC.)
University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, [1967].
28 ______________________________________________________________
solution of the problem of truth. New investigations of the processes of man's
linguistic experiences are called to ensure intellectual openness towards
perceiving and comprehending contemporary reality in philosophy. Howev er,
it should be stressed that the investigations mentioned in the promotion paper
are synthesized within a conception that guided by the totality of hermeneutical
tradition links the philosophy of medieval Europe with the discoveries of the XX
century philosophy.
B. In the philosophy of Latvia. Characterizing the level of scholarly
investigation of the theme in Latvia one cannot help expressing deep regret at the
50 Soviet occupation years during which time the intellectual life in Latvia was not
given the possibility to honestly investigate the achievements of medieval culture,
philosophy included. Medieval philosophy was afforded the status of exceptional
unfavourability, its authors being the objects of a total struggle of atheism against
"religious obscurantism" in those years. It was the time when the corresponding
library reserves were destroyed, as, for instance, those of the Aglona Basilica and
monastery and the LU Theology faculty. In its turn, "the iron curtain" was to
blame for breaking the intellectual tradition of investigating the heritage of the
medieval philosophy and theology the most outstanding representative of which
in postwar Latvia was the Catholic bishop Pēteris Strods. The texts of Thomas
Aquinas and other medieval authors were available (to those who studied them)
in Latin and up to now there are no Latvian translations of Thomas Aquinas's
works.8
However, investigation of medieval philosophy could restart with the
establishment of the LU Philosophy department in 1966. The lecturer in medieval
history of philosophy there was Prof. Laizāns; religion philosophy courses given
by Prof. O. Vümte stimulated the students' interest in medieval philosophy
themes. LU History of Philosophy section of the History and Philosophy Faculty
graduates under the unfavourable conditions of the Soviet regime managed
to establish a serious tradition of investigation of contemporary philosophy,
phenomenology in particular, developing at the same time the academic tradition
of history of philosophy (M.Kūle's research in H-G.Gadamer's philosophy 9;
8
It is possible that the first translation of Thomas Aquinas's text appeared at the
beginning of the XXI century in the journal "Kentaurs XXI" as Quastiones Disputatae
de Veritate (1256-1259). The fragment appeared wrongly entitled: Thomas Aquinas
The Sum of Theology (Part 1) // Cultural anthropology journal KENTAURS XXI,
No.37, August 2005, pp. 47-56.
9
See: Kūle M. "A Way in the Labyrinths of Understanding" - R. "Zinātne". 1989.For
latest investigations consult the book by the same author Phenomenology and Culture FSI, Rīga, 2002.
_____________________________________________________________ 29
A. Rubenis' systematic treatises on medieval philosophy10; S. Krūmiņa-Koņkova's
research into Aquinas's philosophy11 and her editorial work in publishing a book
devoted to Aquinas's philosophy 12; R. Bičevskis' treatises on the problem of
truth in M.Heidegger's works13). Of great importance is the possibility of using
the contribution of Latvian philosophers to translating into Latvian texts of
contemporary philosophy (R. Kūlis' contribution to translating M. Heidegger's
texts; I Šuvajevs's achievement in translating H-G Gadamer's fundamental
work).
The Contribution the Fulfillment of the Theme Makes to
the Innovation of History of Philosophy within the Context
of Contemporary Philosophy
Meditating on the future of the problems of history of philosophy at the
beginning of the XXI century there appears more and more distinctly the
transition from understanding history of philosophy as "a box of tools" to the
view of its intrinsic value 14. Contemporary philosophy comes to realize more
and more clearly the temporal extension as an undivided field of investigation.
However, to be able to work in it successfully it is necessary to have good
spiritual-humanitarian equipment. The author of the paper sees it in the XX
century hermeneutical approaches that are used in the promotion paper to
investigate medieval philosophy and the XX century philosophy in their dialogue
on the problem of truth accentuating at the same time the advantages the temporal
distancing affords.
THE METHODS OF ANALYSIS AND DATA PROCESSING are those
of hermeneutics - the method of interpretation of texts that takes into account
the temporal distancing as an advantage; demanding discovery of new sense
arising from the dialogical character of the communicative situation. The basis
of the analytic of the problems is the phenomenological method of description
supplemented by examining the problems under investigation as perceived by
10
14
Rubenis A. Ethics Forming of Christian Anthropology and Ethics. - Zvaigzne ABC;
Rubenis A. Ethics Medieval Education, Anthropology and Ethics. Abelard. Thomas
Aquinas. Duns Scotus. William of Ockham. - Zvaigzne ABC; Rubenis A. Ethics
Anthropology and Ethics of Western Church Fathers. Augustine. Boethius. Spirituality
of Monks - Zvaigzne ABC, [2007].
11
Krūmiņa S. Evil and Man's Free Will - R. "Zinātne", 1992.
12 Saint Thomas Aquinas - R., LZA FSI, 1993.(12)
1
Bičevskis R. Truth and Factuality: M. Heidegger's Early Philosophical
13
Investigations. Promotion paper. Rīga. LU, 2004.
The Future for Philosophy. Ed.by Brian Leiter - Clarendon Press, Oxford, [2004].(14)
30 ______________________________________________________________________
philosophy of subsequent times. In diagnosing to what degree the theme has been
scientifically investigated the data processing methods used were completely
available only in foreign libraries, as, for instance, the electronic academic
information catalogues and bibliographical indices.
Thus, the innovation in the subsection of history of philosophy is to be
linked with the use of hermeneutics in investigating history of philosophy.
Elaboration of language ontology in the XX century allows discerning the tradition
of the language of being that was worked out in St Thomas Aquinas's integrally
anthropological philosophy. The being of language and the language of being are
reflexively interdependent forming a shared field of philosophical experience in
which the temporal distancing, according to the standpoints of hermeneutics, is
viewed as an advantage. Against this background the innovative contribution of
the promotion paper comes to the fore in the following solutions:
• The use of the hermeneutical "communication-text-interpretation"
structure to reveal the hermeneutical orientation of medieval culture and
philosophy as the context of the genesis of the traditional concept of
truth;
• The substantiation of one truth theory in the scholastic philosophy showing
its connection with the solution of the problem of happiness or felicitas in
the discussion of Parisian Averroests and St Thomas Aquinas;
• The interpretation of Aquinas's cognition theory as the theoretical basis
for the traditional concept of truth revealing linguisticality, connected
with language ontology, in the process of the inner word;
• Revealing the relationships between the so-called subjective and objective
truths in the interdependence of individual cognition and transcendentality
making use of an original concept of a mirror of being;
• Disclosure of hermeneuticality of truth in the XX century philosophy
showing the attempts at the solution of truth as value in the perception of
value philosophy of scholasticism in German value philosophy, beginning
with Kant, then in Neo-Kantianism and analyzing truth as a value problem
exposition in Nietzsche's philosophy and in Freud's psychopathology
analytic of everyday life with reference to the use of linguisticality in
contemporary psycho-therapeutic practice;
• Interpretation of the ontological solution of truth worked out in Martin
Heidegger's philosophy in connection with the hermeneutical circle as the
concept of the principle of the humanities;
• The analytic of the conceptualization of the possibility of truth experience
in linguisticality in H-G Gadamer's hermeneutics;
• The analytic of metaphysically one and many-sided truth in the perspective
of the XXI century philosophy.
______________________________________________________________ 31
These innovations in the subsection of History of Philosophy are brought to
light in the promotion paper in the corresponding structure that proceeds as a
process of thinking leading to the revelation of the philosophical status of the
problem of truth in the present situation of history of philosophy. Or, as they
would have said in medieval times, the investigation in its execution, in actus
exercitus matches the denominative, or actus significants.
32 _____________________________________________________________
II. The Structure of the Promotion Paper and Conclusions
The architectonics of the promotion paper is modeled making use of a
four-stage arrangement that ensures a full-scale theme explication showing the
interconnection of the sub-themes in the totality of the investigation representation.
References to the literature used are included in the text of the promotion paper,
just like the most necessary explanations to facilitate the understanding of the
text. A special section of "Notes" is provided after the text of the promotion paper
with the aim of giving additional information pertaining to cultural anthropology
and history of philosophy, the entries being marked in the text by Roman figures
as distinct from the Arab figures for the footnotes. The investigative development
of the promotion paper theme is integrated in two parts conceptually substantiated
in the facticity of the history of philosophy.
Part I "The Origins of the Transcendental Philosophy of Truth in the
Scholastic and Especially St Thomas Aquinas's Philosophy" is devoted to the
investigation of the problem of truth in Aquinas's philosophy presenting it as
transcendental philosophy, the characteristic feature of it being the possibility of
investigating man's intellectual structure and experience simultaneously searching
ways of growth for the openness of man's mind.
The first chapter of Part I of the promotion paper reveals the genesis of the
traditional concept of truth in the context of medieval philosophy. Medieval
culture can be characterized as a hermeneutically orientated culture, its source
being the Word/word parallelism that grows out of the communication event
between God and man initiating an active exegetic or hermeneutical practice. The
promotion paper author substantiates the hermeneutical character of medieval
culture and philosophy by using the hermeneutical structure "communicationtext-interpretation" given in H-G Gadamer's work Text and Interpretation. It may
be concluded that while looking for the solution of the problem of searching the
conditions for a truthful interpretation of the biblical text in medieval philosophy
there is formed a ramified system of hermeneutical rationality in whose framework
new judgements are formed and their relationships elucidated. Such a ceaseless
perfection of the conceptual network stimulates the development of medieval
philosophical inquiry. Development of biblical hermeneutics in connection with
the university teaching tasks calls forth the cultural prosperity of the thirteenth
century (regarded as mysterious) and the emergence of scholasticism as school
science that consists in reading and interpretation of texts forming commentaries
on authorized sources.
However, to reveal the theme of the promotion paper it had to be asked if
one could speak of language ontology in medieval philosophy. That is why a
supplementary investigation into speculative etymology of the word turning
33
towards the cognition of the word of God problem in the philosophical works
of Dionysius Areopagite marks the appearance of linguisticality in the medieval
Word/word culture. Linguisticality to characterize language ontology is used
on the basis of H-G Gadamer's conclusions in the work Truth and Method.
Linguisticality, just like language, can be characterized as the mediator of
hermeneutical experience and can be viewed as the basic structure in understanding
the existence of language. Thus, referring the understanding of linguisticality
based in Gadamer's hermeneutics to Aquinas's philosophy one can maintain that
the traditional concept of truth defines the principle of linguistic intellect and of
adequacy of the thing reflected in the word. It can be said that the principle
of adequacy is a hermeneutical principle, envisaging the possibility of intellect
to increasingly open to Being. However, no matter how large the size of the
hermeneutical circle of Being in the grasp of intellect becomes, the demand for
adequacy remains valid.15 Thomas Aquinas in his philosophy transfers the search
for the criteria of security of the truthfulness of Revelation interpretation from
investigating the hermeneutical facilities of text interpretation to the problem of
the critique of the abilities of the mind of man as the user of the facilities. The
existential motivation of man's growth in the truth of Being and its understanding
is disguised in communication where the special importance of the concept of
communication arises from the medieval Christ centred view of the world - God
cherishes His mysterious desire to freely share (communicatio) feelings of love
with other beings. That is why Thomas Aquinas's approach to the problem of the
borders of intellect and abilities differs from the solutions offered by Arab and
Jewish thinkers.
The second chapter of Part I of the promotion paper examines the possibility
of reaching truth in man's intellect pointing out the essential to medieval thinking
dominance of the one truth theory. Thomas Aquinas constitutes truth as the concept
of being, thus engaging in the heated discussions of the period on the problem of
how man's intellect can be the source of the one truth. Aquinas conceptualizes
being as unitary being; including man's being; solving man as mind and body
unity, the whole of the universe as intelligible substance unity and unity of
cognition problem. The existence of linguisticality in Aquinas's metaphysics is
identified by the fulfillment of the wonder of language in the inner word that
allows interpreting scholastic solutions as the possibility of the truth experience
in linguisticality. Man's concern for morality guarantees the certainty of truth
15
One cannot help noticing here a principal philosophical problem - man cannot
grasp the whole Being at once, although he does grasp being, or, as scholastics used to
say, the first thing man grasps is being. M.Heidegger solves the problem of gradualness
in grasping Being that is a characteristic feature of man's intellectuality by
introducing the hermeneutical circle.
34 ______________________________________________________________
and opens up the possibility of functioning for the natural light of mind - lumen
animae nostrae. Thus, contrary to the habitual view of the sensual as the causality
of cognition in Thomas's philosophy, it must be admitted that in Aquinas s view
cognition has two sources - external senses and the internal origin in the light
of intellect. It can be regarded that actually Aquinas solves the problem of truth
experiencing by describing the cognition of truth as an exercise of actualizing the
light of intellect, consequently an activity that can be repeated and so it acquires
the status of experience.
The juxtaposition of the truth gained by intellect and the eternal truth the
supposition of which is expressed by the concept of transcendentality is presented
in the third chapter of Part I.
The problem of analogatus worked out by Aquinas has up to now been
regarded to be a problem of cognition, not linguisticality.
Investigations of the language of being have not been placed, as one
can judge from bibliography, in the context of linguisticality as a subject of
contemporary philosophy the way it is done in this promotion paper.
On the basis of linguisticality the solution of the truth problem achieved
by scholastic philosophy can be treated as the fullness of truth experience in
linguisticality that is guarded by reflection of the linguistic truth achieved by
intellect in transcendentality as a linguistic mode of thinking Being. In this
respect the activity of man's mind is parallel to the functioning of analogatus in
the language of being.
"Looking" into the truth like into the mirror of eternity or infinity transcendentality - with the help of the linguistically acquired inner word of truth
that is included into the proposition and thus into communication, it is possible
for the mind to juxtapose the temporal truth with infinite truth and to open up
surpassing one's self. Linguisticality offers the intellect admittance to the highest
reality against which the individually achieved truth is measured.
Further on West-European philosophy does not deny truth as the solution of
the traditional philosophical problem. Philosophy respects the fact that man always
evaluates reality and that is why reality and values are indivisible and demand the
world of values to be included in philosophy. Such a demand in Modern time
philosophy intensifies the problem of conceptualization of truth as value against
the natural science world of seemingly indestructible objective facts.
Part II of the paper "The Path of Linguistic Solution of the Problem of
the Truth Experience in the XX Century Philosophy" is devoted to showing
that the truth problem shift to linguisticality has taken place in the paradigm
of contemporary philosophy and linguisticality forms the context of the solution
of the problem of the possibility of the truth experience.
35
The first chapter of Part II reveals how H-G Gadamer develops hermeneutics
as a philosophy of understanding and explicating, and practical usage, the way it
used to be in the medieval tradition, disclosing the specifics of the truth problem in
the humanities. Strictly speaking, the truth of the humanities must be acquired in
repeatable experience although the treatment of experience itself differs from the
understanding of experimentally repeatable experience in natural sciences. That is
why the classical study solution of the philosophical problem is connected with
bringing to light the hermeneutic character of being and truth in the XX century
philosophy that at the same time reveals linguisticality as the possibility of the
truth experience. The XX century hermeneutic philosophy in solving the problem
of truth tends to integrate the tradition of value philosophy. Despite "language
forgetfulness" in Kant's critique the axiological studies arising from it were a
stop to the philosophy of the end of the XIX century searching methods for the
humanities. Heidegger in his fundamental ontology finds a completely new way
of solving the problem of truth as value that would correspond to the ideal of
truth of the humanities. H.Rickert stressed that next to Seinsprobleme there is
Wertprobleme and the essence of truth is value. The revelation of the specific
philosophical importance of linguisticality, as underscored by H-G Gadamer,
stimulates the dissolution of the illusion of the security of truth in self-confidence
in the works of F. Nietzsche and S. Freud, whose achievements in the sphere of
language philosophy are noted in the promotion paper.
The second chapter of Part II examines the connection of the problem of truth
with linguisticality in M. Heidegger's philosophy of thinking inquiry that solves
the problem of truth as value by ontologizing it. In M. Heidegger's solution the
truth's temporal openness in being-in-the-world is maintained by the concept of
being sunk in historicity. Thus the understanding of historicity that would imply
man's mental transition to some historical situation, let us say, in the form of
empathy, is cancelled in principle.
Something that is true can take place transcending the frames of the subject's
self-confidence, thus it is trans-subjective. The decisive coherence of intellect
and the thing as the basis for truth, in Heidegger's view, is an alethic or open
behaviour or attitude of being-in-the world. M. Heidegger accentuates that the
truth of utterance is made possible by the openness of behaviour as an intrinsic
possibility of truth that is based on freedom - "the essence of truth is freedom".
Thus, Heidegger solves the problem of truth as value in fundamental ontology
eluding the limitations of axiology.
In Heidegger's creative work the transsubjectivity of truth is revealed in
connection with experience as an "exercise" in hearing truth because an uttering
contains openness of the existent that is retained in the utterance. Thus, what is
uttered becomes fixed the world and it can always be "taken" anew and uttered
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thanks to language. Thus, the possibility in language of repeating the acquisition of
understanding being allows speaking about the possibility of the truth experience
in linguisticality:
The problem of truth in the XX century philosophy after Heidegger's
fundamental ontology solution has turned into the problem of the possibility
of the truth experience in linguisticality.
One can say that linguisticality is a way of revelation of man's historical
existence. Historical events and historical senses have structures of their own
with which they break into the continuity of lifetime, that is why linguisticality in
principle is a sphere of possibilities that assembles all the tenses in the present and
that is why there is always a possibility of other being, Anderssein. Thereby, the
conceptualization of language solves the problem of the relationship between the
potential infinity of world experiences and the finitude of man's understanding.
The third chapter of Part II examines H-G Gadamer's approach to language
as the life being self-parading model. According to Gadamer's solution, the
confluence of theoretical reflection and life may be defined as a language
mediated process of confluence of historically efficacious consciousness and life.
The introduction of interpretational mediation in the philosophical thinking about
being does not cancel the adequacy demand. Gadamer points out that historical
cognition is retained as the present-day adjustment to the thing, commensurating
with the thing or reality mensuratio ad rem. Thus, the thing remains as a measure
of adequacy and at the same time a measure of interpretation of being that
is revealed in dialogue at the moment of the merger of the sense horizons. In
the discussion with J.Derrida on the possibilities of onto-hermeneutical inquiry
Gadamer with the notion of textualization draws a demarcation line between
sense and the senseless and also between the possibility of opening the truth of
the existent through language mediation and what is too far from being included
in the proposition.
Word understanding in hermeneutics actually gives an answer to the problem
of the process of enlightening openness in which the essences of things can
demonstrate themselves the way they are and in which being-truth can reveal
itself in its obviousness. Thus, in the XX century hermeneutics the evidence or
obviousness of truth is an event in the process of understanding. Its dynamics
is brought out by the characteristic of the truth experience as growth of being.
Due to language ontology words themselves demonstrate such being-in-the-world
thinking in which knowledge and good are indivisible. Thus, Gadamer reveals
the truth as a constitutive element of good, even of "being good" because truth
is openness and that is why the possibility of thinking that proceeds in words,
through words coming to light and due to language ontology of themselves
showing the direction from true to good. As happiness is connected with pleasure,
37
Dasein seeing it is included in cognition perceives truth as delight. Thus, the
possibility of the truth experience in linguisticality in the final value-orientated
culmination of life existence in hermeneutics appears as true and at the same time
good and beautiful life existence new and new recurrence that is feasible due to
linguisticity.
In the conclusion of the promotion paper, in the fourth chapter of Part II the
prospective horizon of the theme under investigation is marked by the analytic of
the creative work of those contemporary philosophers who tend to increase the
openness of the mind by offering to go through unexpected linguistic experiences,
respecting at the same time the universal unity of being. It can just as well be called
the problem of many-sidedness of truth. From the point of view of hermeneutics
the question is about the being-truth process in the polyphonic world of most
variegated sense interpretations respecting at the same time the existential and
pre-given origin of tradition of the sense interpreter.
Thus, the promotion paper is devoted to the investigation of the most
essential value of human being - the truth, it gives competent references to
the new situation in the investigation of medieval philosophy and brings
to light some of the possibilities of further development of philosophical
hermeneutics that are far from being exhausted, yet tends to a still greater
degree to reveal the possibility of a dialogue of contemporary philosophy and
the scholastic tradition in forming the truth discourse in Latvia.
Conclusions
1. The conceptualization of the possibility of the truth experience
in linguisticality corresponds to the theoretical situation of the truth
problem in contemporary philosophy and clears new ways of philosophical
comprehension of reality.
In this context of importance is the reference of the possibility of the truth
experience in linguisticality to scholastic philosophy that substantiates the
existence of hermeneutical tradition as the tradition of linguistic understanding
in medieval, and in St Thomas's philosophy in particular. Here truth as
transcendentality that could be characterized as a specific thinking mode of
existence must be juxtaposed to the truth gained in the cognition of intellect. In
contrast to the habitual view of the sensual as the cause of cognition in Thomas's
philosophy, it must be admitted that cognition has two sources - external senses
and the innate light of intellect. Truth as transcendentality is not an innate word
that would resemble the mirror image of the innate word fully exhausting the
form of the thing. Due to the asymmetry of the finite truth and the transcendental
truth the mind openness is constituted in the direction of infinity that the mind can
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tend to fill with constantly renewed attempts at the truth. The medieval scholastic
philosophy is inclined to link the finite with the infinite - God as truth and man's
truth and this kind of contiguity is possible in Aquinas's philosophy basing on the
solution of the problem of analogy that is a specific discerning thinking about the
divine and human reality respecting the distance separating the two. However,
although the problem of analogatus has been at the centre of a special subdivision
of Thomism since the XIV century classical investigation period, analogy has not
been viewed as a reality existing within the context of linguisticality and that was
conducive to obscuration of the existence of the unity of language of being and
the being language in Aquinas's philosophy.
2. It is possible to define the theoretical status of the problem of truth in
the philosophy of the XXI century in a philosophically historical investigation
of the paradigm of ontological truth.
In the XIII century within the framework of this paradigm St Thomas
Aquinas worked out the traditional definition of truth in the scholastic philosophy
whose re-interpretation forms solutions of the problem of truth in the process of
further development of philosophy. The traditional concept of truth was formed
within the hermeneutically orientated medieval culture at the basis of which is
the event of communication of God with man that stimulates the development of
hermeneutical or exegetical practice in the context of the Word/word parallelism
culture that gradually gives rise to a ramified system of philosophical rationality
that with a view to hermeneutics is called upon to explicate concepts and links
among them. The traditional concept of truth in Aquinas's philosophy is within the
context of investigations of the activity of intellect at the time of transition from
investigating techniques of hermeneutics to the problem of the possibilities of the
text interpreter's intellect that are open thanks to the possibility of mastering or
docibilitas the truth.
3. The discovery of language ontology in the hermeneutics of the XX
century after seven centuries of history of philosophy allows reviving the
hermeneutical tradition of Western Europe in an undivided unity.
Within the framework of this tradition it is possible to elucidate the philosophy
of high scholasticism - the metaphysics of Thomas Aquinas's language of being as
based on the being language. It is proved by the academic confidence permeating
Aquinas's philosophical investigations in the possibility of cognition of reality by
cognizing the words defining reality that comes to light with especial clarity in
the problem of the cognition of the words of God borrowed from the philosophy
of Dionysius Areopagite and developed further.
4. The incorporation of language problems into the XX century philosophy
changed the context of the solution of the truth problem and truth can now
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be investigated as a problem of hermeneutics respecting the status of truth
as value.
Shifting the truth problems from gnoseology to linguisticality in the XX
century philosophy took place in two intellectual directions: hermeneutics and
analytical tradition. However, the approaches of hermeneutical and analytical
traditions to language problems in the context of the truth problem differ in the
fact that hermeneutical philosophy in the solution of the truth inquiry integrates
the tradition of value philosophy. In M.Heidegger's and H-G Gadamer's
hermeneutics the problem of truth is actually solved as a value problem although
outside axiological frames for the latter are too narrow for the expansion of the
ontologism of truth. In this context Kant is the philosopher establishing the link
between scholasticism and the German value philosophy. In Kant's philosophy
value teaching is not singled out as an independent philosophical discipline with
an apparatus of categories and an architectonics characteristic of contemporary
axiological theories, but determining the noumenal world as the basis for the
phenomenal world.
5. In M.Heidegger's philosophy the possibility of repeated grasping of the
understanding of being in language enables one to speak about the possibility
of the truth experience in linguisticality.
In the fundamental ontology solution the truth as always being-in-the-world
and opening with the passage of time is maintained with the concept of being
sunk in historicity. The philosophical consequence of this standpoint is such
that the understanding of historicity existing before Heidegger that presupposed
man's mental transition to some historical situation, say, in the form of empathy,
is cancelled. The true can happen and is happening transcending the subject's
identical self-confidence framework, thus, the true is trans-subjective and the
nearness of the unobtrusive strength of being-truth exists as language, implemented
and permeated by being, the home of being. However, being-in-the-world with its
alethic behaviour has to actualize the possibility offered by language.
6. In H-G Gadamer's hermeneutics the meeting of theoretical reflection
and life may be defined as the language mediated process of historically
efficacious consciousness meeting life.
Working out a common language that assembles in the present all the
tenses and reveals the shared and movable horizon of the whole unity of
existence enables the implementation of truth. This process becomes the basis
for the openness of being-truth that occurs ensuring matter-of-factness in the
ontological discourse as following the thing and allowing it to reveal itself. Thus,
experiencing truth in hermeneutics may be defined as an experience of the skill of
grasping; it is the generation of the repeatability of understanding that is possible
due to linguisticality. It means that linguisticality is the possibility of the truth
40 ______________________________________________________________
experience. The possibility of the truth experience in linguisticality in the final
value-orientated life being intensification of hermeneutics appears as a recurring
repeatability of true and at the same time good and beautiful being of life that is
possible due to linguisticality.
7. Due to linguisticality the metaphysically one truth acquires an
additional characteristic as many-sided truth, posing the question about
juxtaposing the finite truth experienced by man thanks to liguisticality
with truth transcending the framework of individuals that can be called
transcendental truth.
The problem of many-sidedness of truth in the philosophy of the XXI century
marks the question about its potentialities to grasp in a unified world picture the
reality of many and various cultures, ways of life, value orientations, social strata,
ideas and so on. From the point of view of hermeneutics, taking into account the
polyphony of being the question about the truth experience can be asked anew as
a question about the possibility of many-sided truth experience in linguisticality.
However, even so the requirement of the traditional concept of truth remains
valid: intellect and the thing should be coherent, forming the basis of truth in the
utterance and the many-sided truth is hierarchically value orientated.