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TRUTHINSPORTSHISTORY
Whatistheconceptoftruth?Itseemstobeoneofthemostcomplicatedphilo-
sophicalissues.AccordingtotheclassicalAristoteliandefinitiontruthisucon-
formitybetweenthoughtandreality”-uadequatioreietintellectus.”Defini-
tionsindiferentdictionariesandencyclopediasareusuallybasedonthisrather
enigmaticassumption.Webster)sexplainstruthasusomethingthatistrueor
heldtobetrue(ł)relationship,conformity,oragreementwithfactorreality.”1
RandomHouseDictionarystatesthattruthistheutrueoractualstateofamatter
(ł)conformitywithfactorreality,verity.”2meDictionaryofthePolishLan-
guageincludesasimilardefinition:uwhatisinaccordancewithrealityandis
confirmedinreality.”3
Tewell-knownAmericanhistorian,SamuelE.Morison,onceexpressedhis
opinion,whichseemsquiteobvious,thatuNopersonwithoutaninherentloy-
altytotruth,ahighdegreeofintellectualhonesty,andasenseofbalance,canbe
agreatorevenagoodhistorian.Truthaboutthepastistheessenceofhistory
andhistoricalbiography,thethingthatdistinguishesthemfromeveryother
branchofliterature.”4AndMorisonadds:uEveryoneagreestothat;butwhenwe
cometodefinetruth,dissensionsstarts.”5
However,sincetheverybeginningofhistoriographyhistoryhasalwaysbeen
consciouslyorunconsciouslyfalsified.Oneofthefathersofancienthistoriog-
raphy,Tucydides,boastedthathehadintroducedintohiswritingsufabricated
andfictitiousfigures”becausehewasafraidthatifheignoredsuchfabrication
1
Webster)smirdNewInternationalDictionaryoftheEnglishLanguage,Springfield(MA)1993,p.2457.
2
meRandomHouseDictionaryoftheEnglishLanguage,NewYork,p.1521.
3
Słownikjęzykapolskiego(DictionaryofthePolishLanguage),Warszawa1995,p.701.
4
SamuelE.Morison,FaithofaHistorian,in:HarveyWish,ed.,AmericanHistorians.ASelection,New
York-Oxford1962,pp.380-381.
5
Ibidem.
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