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West Meets East

Truth and the True

Joseph Sen on types of knowledge in Western and Indian thought.

“…when he is in doubt about anything, or unable to find a proof for the object of his inquiry, he must not at once abandon, reject and deny it; he must modestly keep back, and from regard to the honour of his Creator, hesitate [from uttering an opinion] and pause.”
(Maimonides, The Guide for the Perplexed, trans. M. Friedlander, p.43)

Is there a difference between the true and the truth? Facts, we might say, are true but is truth itself a fact we have in our hands or an ideal we seek without guarantee of possession?

We speak about the truth of a situation, the truth about things, the truth about persons, about life.

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