1. Josiah Spears
Period 5
Mr. Clover
Nov. 16, 2011
Rashomon: Absolute or Relative Truth
Why is Rashomonsuch a renowned and highly acclaimed film? Most would agree
that Rashomon’s forte is definitely not its “astounding” black and white graphics or the
“breathtaking” ease and effectiveness of the actors. The factors that caused
Rashomon’ssuccess are the topic it covered and the method and point of view from which
it was covered. Rashomonexplores the intriguing yet controversial topics of truth and
reality and the corrupt nature of humans by presenting the viewer with four different
accounts of a murder, each contradicting each other. The beauty of this film is that at the
end it forces the viewer to choose a verdict for himself, thus, ultimately prompting the
viewer to ponder over the deep concept of truth and reality. Because of this,
Rashomonhas been a subject of heated debate. The main two views of this film are
separately advocated by Errol Morris and Roger Ebert. Ebert, a movie critic, supports the
relativist’s view of truth about Rashomon. Morris, a movie director, advocates the
absolutist view of truth, which is that there is only one truth. Although Ebert’s relativistic
point of view may be more practical in every day life, Morris’s absolutist view more
appropriately relates to Rashomon,especially when one views Rashomonthrough the
lenses of Plato’s definition of truth and justified true belief, as well as, when one realizes
the fallacies of perception and emotions as sole ways of knowing.
Morris openly expresses his disregard of and opposition against the relativist’s
view when he strongly states, “This idea that there is no reality, that truth is up for grabs,
or that truth is subjective, I find foolish and unappetizing”(Interview with Errol Morris).
Clearly, Morris believes in truth and ultimate reality and thus would agree for the most

2. Josiah Spears
Period 5
Mr. Clover
Nov. 16, 2011
part with Plato and his definition of truth. Plato’s explanation of truth states that truth is
independent of people, is eternal, and is universal. The primary part of Plato’s definition
of truth that applies to Rashomonis the part that truth is independent of people. Morris
expresses his belief in this when he says, “Just thinking something does not make it
so”(Interview with Errol Morris). Truth is true no matter what people think about the
truth. Although almost every one in the Middle Ages thought that the earth was the center
of the universe, this did not make it true; in fact, it was false. The testimonies in
Rashomonor what any of the characters believe is truth does not at all affect the reality
that somehow the samurai was killed and that someone did it. The character’s testimonies
are only there as tools to guide the viewer to the best verdict but in no way affect the
truth. To the relativists that say that truth is up for grabs in Rashomon, Morris would
respond by stating, “I believe in the real world, Just like there’s a fact of the matter of
whether there was an attack on August 4th [1964] in the Gulf of Tonkin. It’s not up for
grabs” (Interview with Errol Morris).For the most part, events in history either happened
or they did not, although perspectives on the outcomes and affects could vary immensely.
For example, George Washington was either the first President of the United States of
America, or he was not; there is know middle ground. Morris would apply this concept to
Rashomonby saying that the bandit either killed the samurai or he did not; there is no
middle ground there. The woodcutter either killed the samurai, or he did not and so on.
The concept that an event either happened or did not happen coheres to most people’s
mental maps because they have been conditioned by their schooling that certain events
“without a doubt” happened and by the code of law of their countries that people are
either guilty or not guilty. Thus, it is logical and natural to most people to assume that

3. Josiah Spears
Period 5
Mr. Clover
Nov. 16, 2011
there is an absolute truth to Rashomon. This coherence will cause many people to believe
that there is an absolute truth and also gives them good justification for believing so. It is
also true that there is an absolute truth in Rashomonbecause this proposition meets the
requirements of truth defined by Plato. Putting the pieces together one can see that
Morris’s theory is justified true belief, which means that he has knowledge.
Ebert would certainly try to poke holes in Morris’s argument by pointing out that
Morris has not and cannot come to a direct and absolute conclusion to the story and that
he does not consider how the people’s different perspectives changed their reality. Morris
would respond to the latter complaint by saying, “ It’s a movie about how everybody sees
the world differently. But the claim that everybody sees the world differently is not a
claim that there’s no reality”(Interview with Errol Morris). Just because people have
different views of the world does not mean that there are different realities, but merely
means that they may have a different way of interpreting reality. However, this does not
change truth or reality because reality is independent of humans. Also, the characters in
Rashomoncould have experienced fallacies in their perspective because of visual
illusions, expectations, context, etc. Also, their perspectives could have been affected by
their emotions, especially in the case of the wife who had just been raped. Her
perspective and testimony was definitely affected because of the strong emotions she was
experiencing. The four accounts could also have been affected by the storyteller’s
motives like the woodcutter who had a confused perspective in order to cover to his
greedy desire for the dagger. Morris argues that motive could affect people’s perspective
when he emphatically proposes,“There is such a thing as truth, but we have a vested
interest in not seeing it, in avoiding it” (Interview with Errol Morris). However, Morris

4. Josiah Spears
Period 5
Mr. Clover
Nov. 16, 2011
does not believe that motive is apart of JTB but just a factor in people’s perspectives.
There are just too many factors that could have and did skew the observers perspectives
and motives in order to solely or mainly rely on perception and emotion to determine the
truth, as Ebert does. To Ebert’s argument that Morris cannot come to an absolute truth
about who was the murder, Morris would reply by saying, “that you know what really
happened at the end. It’s pretty damn clear”(Interview with Errol Morris).The proof he
used to come to his conclusion was probably eyewitness and confirmation by another
because the bandit was accused of committing the murder in two testimonies; no one else
was. If a person is accused of a crime by two or more witnesses in a U.S. court of law,
this is usually enough evidence to put the person away for life. This author does not see a
clear-cut ending to Rashomon; however, this does not at all weaken or undermine
Morris’s argument. Morris says, “We may not have all the evidence in hand in order to
adjudicate the question, but underneath the question there’s a physical reality” (Interview
with Errol Morris).Although it is not apparent which person committed the murder, this
does imply that there is no reality. There is a reality and truth in Rashomon; I just believe
that there is not enough evidence to come to that truth.
As a relativist, Roger Ebert believes and argues that there is not an absolute truth
in Rashomon and he does argue some persuasive points. Ebert argues, “What he doesn't
understand is that while there is an explanation of the film's four eyewitness accounts of a
murder, there is not a solution”(Ebert: Rashomon Review). Ebert’s view is very practical
and at a quick glance seems to be the more logical answer because no solution to
Rashomon is clear. Morris would counter this argument by saying that just because a
solution is not evident does not mean that there is not an absolute solution. He would say

5. Josiah Spears
Period 5
Mr. Clover
Nov. 16, 2011
we do not have to have the evidence for there to be an the ultimate truth because evidence
is not a prerequisite of truth; it just proves to humans what is true. Ebert also argues, “the
genius of Rashomon is that all of the flashbacks are both true and false. True, in that they
present an accurate portrait of what each witness thinks happened. False, because as
Kurosawa observes in his autobiography, "Human beings are unable to be honest with
themselves about themselves” (Ebert: Rashomon Review). Although this is a valid point
that the witnesses may think their perspective is true because they understand it to be
true, this does not mean that their perspectives are true because according to Plato’s
definition of truth, truth is independent of people. Ebert would include motive as a way of
knowing and as a part of JTB; however, Morris would disagree with this because he
would say that peoplecannot completely know motive. Ebert’s relativistic stance is
logical and relevant for every day life, but Morris’s view has better counter arguments to
Ebert’s points that weaken Ebert’s stance.
Overall, both Morris’s absolutist view and Ebert’s relativists view have strengths
and weaknesses; although Morris’s view seems to have more support from theory and a
little less weaknesses then Ebert’s. Morris’s view lacks flexibility and in life would
probably be less effective then Ebert’s view. However, I Morris’s view better supports
the movie, and it is supported by one of the greatest authorities on truth, Plato. Morris’s
view coheres to most people’s mental maps and also is Justified True Belief. Ebert’s view
does not cohere to Plato’s definition of truth but that is not necessarily a weakness
because Plato’s theory on truth is not flawless. The main weakness in Ebert’s argument is
the fallacies of perception and emotions as ways of knowing as well as counter examples
against it like the one about George Washington mentioned earlier.The strengths of

6. Josiah Spears
Period 5
Mr. Clover
Nov. 16, 2011
Ebert’s argument are that there is no obvious ending or truth to Rashomonand that his
theory is flexible and practical. However, with the evidence and theory backing Morris’s
absolute view on Rashomon, his argument is the stronger and more persuasive of the two.
Works Cited
“Interview with Errol Morris”
“Ebert: Rashomon Review”