An Introduction to Anselm of Aosta’s "De Veritate"

Abstract

This article examines Anselm of Aosta’s De veritate as a systematic hinge of his philosophical and theological thought, in which the notion of veritas unfolds from the linguistic and logical level to the ontological and moral one. Through a progressive analysis of the dialogue’s chapters, the study demonstrates how rectitudo — understood as the conformity of being, thinking, and willing to their proper debere — constitutes the unifying principle linking truth, justice, and freedom.
Particular attention is given to the paradigmatic role of linguistic truth, which functions as the model for every other form of rectitude, and to the transition from rectitudo naturae to rectitudo voluntatis, where the ethical dimension of human freedom is grounded. In the final chapter, Anselm extends his inquiry to the metaphysical plane, arguing that truth, one and immutable, does not belong to things but transcends them, since they are true only insofar as they participate in the summa veritas.
The article thus interprets the De veritate as a theoretical synthesis in which logic, ethics, and ontology converge into a single vision: truth as both the principle of being and the path of the mind toward God.