Phenomenological Reviews

Series | Book | Chapter

146875

The twofold character of truth

Heidegger, Davidson, Tugendhat

Jeff Malpas

pp. 243-266

Abstract

The concept of truth as aletheia, or "unconcealment,' is one of the founding concepts in Heidegger's thinking. Yet it also appears to be a concept that is as problematic as it is central. Ernst Tugendhat, in particular, famously criticized Heidegger's identification of truth with aletheia in a way that seems to have led Heidegger eventually to abandon that identification. Beginning with Kockelman's own account of the idea of truth as unconcealment, I want to re-examine the questions at issue here, looking particularly at Tugendhat's criticisms, but also drawing on the account of truth to be found in the work of Donald Davidson. My intention will be to show why it remains the case that aletheia has to be understood as indeed a mode of truth; that understanding this involves understanding a certain transcendental-topological structure as pertaining to aletheia, thereby understanding truth as standing in an essential relation to place or topos; and that the fundamental role played by truth as aletheia does not curtail, but itself constitutes the ground for, genuine questioning or critique.

Publication details

Published in:

Babich Babette, Ginev Dimitri (2014) The multidimensionality of hermeneutic phenomenology. Dordrecht, Springer.

Pages: 243-266

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-01707-5_14

Full citation:

Malpas Jeff (2014) „The twofold character of truth: Heidegger, Davidson, Tugendhat“, In: B. Babich & D. Ginev (eds.), The multidimensionality of hermeneutic phenomenology, Dordrecht, Springer, 243–266.