Following the opening ceremony of the Fifth Edition of the Interdisciplinary School of Ancient Greek, Egyptology, and Oriental Languages, Associate Professor Maria Luiza Oancea (University of Bucharest) delivered a plenary speech entitled Du logos aux fake news – un voyage à travers l'histoire de la vérité dans l'Occident européen / From Logos to Fake News – a journey through the history of truth in Western Europe.
The plenary lecture explored the evolution of the concept of truth in Western tradition, from its ontological and cosmic conception in Greek thought (λόγος and ἀλήθεια) to
its contemporary fragmentation in the era of fake news. While for Heraclitus, truth was a universal law, and for Parmenides, a path to authentic being, Plato saw truth as the revelation of the Ides, while Aristotle defined it as the adequacy of the statement to reality.
In Christianity, truth became a Person—Christ—implicating a living and transformative relationship. In the modern era, truth takes on scientific and rational dimensions, but contemporary philosophy revalues its existential dimensions. In the post-truth era, fake news undermines truth, and a return to original meanings becomes crucial for maintaining a humane and dignified society. In the concluding discussions, participants enjoyed a fruitful dialogue on this topic and on its ramifications for today's intellectual society.
