Wednesday Wisdom

The Roman philosophers, especially the stoics, were influenced by the ancient Greeks in the intellectual argument of what is truth and knowledge. The Romans however broadened the concept veritas to a moral and civic dimension. Veritas means truth in Latin as a virtue and in Roman mythology the goddess of truth is Veritas. This is opposed to the word verum which translates to factual correctness, a distinction the Romans highlighted through language.

Early Greek philosophers combined the words episteme and logos giving us epistemology, the study of understanding and knowledge. This was closely linked to the Greek word aletheia which means truth, knowledge can only come from knowing what is true. Pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus saw truth as something fundamental about the nature of existence. Parmenides, also Pre-Socratic believed truth was eternal and unchanging, in contrast to the deceptive nature of appearances.

Socrates saw truth as something that could be pursued through dialogue and questioning (Socratic Method of learning), helping individuals uncover deeper knowledge within themselves.  Socrates student Plato developed his Theory of Truth where he makes a distinction between knowledge (epiteme) and opinion (doxa) He believed true knowledge from the eternal and unchanging forms accessed through reason. Aristotle followed with Correspondence Theory of Truth which is the idea that truth is determined by how well a statement or belief corresponds to reality. In simple terms, a statement is true if it accurately describes the way things are.

The Romans took the idea of truth and moralized it. Veritas, in Roman culture was not just about intellectual truth but about honesty, sincerity, and integrity—qualities necessary for justice (iustitia) and public life. They not only believed in it, but they also embodied into every aspect of their institutions believing an ethical standard was paramount. The virtue of veritas was so important that deified Veritas, depicting her as a goddess associated with honesty and virtue. Roman statesmen and emperor Marcus Aurelius believed so much in the principle of veritas that he wrote in his personal journal Meditations, “If it is not right, don’t do it, if it’s not true, don’t say it.”

Aristotle’s Theory of Correspondence of Truth was not only influential to the Romans. The Middle Ages saw a revival in Greek/Roman wisdom by Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas as they guided their interpretations of faith and reason, not dissimilar to the Romans moralizing truth and knowledge. These thinkers influenced philosophers over the years from Descartes, Kant, Locke to more contemporary thinkers like Betrand Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein all in pursuit of truth through intellectual honesty.

In 2025: Is Veritas relevant?

The common quote (veritas vos liberabit), “the truth will set you free” was a central tenet to the Roman justice system based on veritas. Roman law and governance placed a strong emphasis on veritas in legal testimony, contracts, and governance. The Roman statesman and philosopher Cicero stated that “Truth is the foundation of justice.” Seneca, a Roman stateman and philosopher professed “Truth is the only safe ground to stand on”.

Veritas, the unyielding commitment to truth and honesty, a virtue that never goes out of style.

And now you know...

Philosophy is the art of thinking, the building block of progress that shapes critical thinking across economics, ethics, religion, and science.

METAPHYSICS: Literally, the term metaphysics means ‘beyond the physical.’ Typically, this is the branch that most people think of when they picture philosophy. In metaphysics, the goal is to answer the what and how questions in life. Who are we, and what are time and space?

LOGIC: The study of reasoning. Much like metaphysics, understanding logic helps to understand and appreciate how we perceive the rest of our world. More than that, it provides a foundation for which to build and interpret arguments and analyses.

ETHICS: The study of morality, right and wrong, good and evil. Ethics tackles difficult conversations by adding weight to actions and decisions. Politics takes ethics to a larger scale, applying it to a group (or groups) of people. Political philosophers study political governments, laws, justice, authority, rights, liberty, ethics, and much more.

AESTHETICS: What is beautiful? Philosophers try to understand, qualify, and quantify what makes art what it is. Aesthetics also takes a deeper look at the artwork itself, trying to understand the meaning behind it, both art as a whole and art on an individual level. A question an aesthetics philosopher would seek to address is whether or not beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.

EPISTEMOLOGY: This is the study and understanding of knowledge. The main question is how do we know? We can question the limitations of logic, how comprehension works, and the ability (or perception) to be certain.