The Criterion of Truth
The ultimate yardstick a philosophy uses to sort the true from the false — its answer to the question of what we should finally trust.
The 'criterion of truth' (kriterion) is the standard or faculty we use to tell true impressions from false ones. From the 4th–3rd century BCE onward it became a central problem of Hellenistic philosophy, with each school naming a different judge: the Epicureans trusted the senses, the Stoics the apprehensive impression, and the Skeptics denied that any reliable criterion exists at all. In his surveys, Sextus Empiricus turned this single question into the frame for the whole ancient debate about how far human knowledge can reach.
How it traveled
- On the murder of HerodesAthens · -411explains
- On the ChoreutesAthens · -411explains
- CratylusAthens · -375explains
- TheaetetusAthens · -369redefines
- PhilebusAthens · -355explains
- LawsAthens · -348explains
- RhetoricChalcis · -335explains
- MetaphysicsChalcis · -322explains
- Nicomachean EthicsChalcis · -322explains
- HistoriesMegalopolis · -118explains
- In C. VerremFormiae · -70explains
- Pro FonteioFormiae · -69explains
- Pro A. CluentioFormiae · -66explains
- AcademicaFormiae · -45explains
- LucullusFormiae · -43explains
- Institutio OratoriaRome · 95explains
- Adversus ColotenChaeronea · 95explains
- DiscoursesNicopolis · 108explains
- HermotimusSamosata · 180explains
- Noctes AtticaeRome · 180explains
- Quomodo historia conscribenda sitSamosata · 180explains
- Adversus MathematicosAlexandria · 190explains
- Pyrrhoniae HypotyposesAlexandria · 210explains
- Vitae philosophorum— · 240explains
- HaEmunot veHaDeotSura (Babylonia) · 933
- KuzariJerusalem · 1120
- Mishneh Torah, Foundations of the TorahFostat (Old Cairo) · 1180
- Guide for the PerplexedCairo · 1190
- Sefer HaIkkarimSoria · 1425
- Abarbanel on TorahNaples · 1505
- Likutei HalakhotBreslov (Ukraine) · 1840
- Malbim on JobBucharest · 1860
- Fragmenta Logica et PhysicaAthensexplains
- De Specialibus Legibus (lib. i‑iv)—explains
- Historia RomanaRomeexplains
- Praeparatio Evangelica—explains
- Jewish Antiquities—explains
- De optima doctrina [attributed]Romeexplains
- De optima secta ad Thrasybulum—explains
- De Ebrietate—explains
Key passages(20)
Fragmenta Logica et Physica · Chrysippus
Fragmenta Logica et Physica · Chrysippus
Vitae philosophorum · Diogenes Laertius
We must not assume that what convinces us is actually true. For the same thing does not convince every one, nor even the same people always. Persuasiveness sometimes depends on external circumstances,
Tap to expand
Vitae philosophorum · Diogenes Laertius
In addition to this there is disagreement as to the criterion, some holding that man is the criterion, while for some it is the senses, for others reason, for others the apprehensive presentation. Now
Tap to expand
De communi mathematica scientia · Iamblichus
Again, if one suppose That naught is known, he knows not whether this Itself is able to be known, since he Confesses naught to know. Therefore with him I waive discussion- who has set his head Even wh
Tap to expand
De optima secta ad Thrasybulum · Pseudo-Galen
Adversus Mathematicos · Sextus Empiricus
Adversus Mathematicos · Sextus Empiricus
Adversus Mathematicos · Sextus Empiricus
Adversus Mathematicos · Sextus Empiricus
Adversus Mathematicos · Sextus Empiricus
Adversus Mathematicos · Sextus Empiricus
Adversus Mathematicos · Sextus Empiricus
Adversus Mathematicos · Sextus Empiricus
Adversus Mathematicos · Sextus Empiricus