The document discusses different perspectives on truth presented in the film Rashomon. It summarizes Errol Morris' view that truth is objective and absolute, despite varying accounts, versus Roger Ebert's view that truth is subjective. While Ebert believes the differing accounts in Rashomon are individually true, Morris argues there can only be one truth, regardless of beliefs. The document concludes Morris' argument is more logical, as differing accounts could factually be untrue, rather than all being considered knowledge.

1. Emmanuel Castaño
Senior Seminar; P.7
Mr. Clover
The Different Perceptions on Truth
In, Rashomon, a film by Akira Kurosawa, after many versions of a story, we only know
for sure that a samurai is dead and his wife was raped in the forest. Many different versions to
this story were told throughout the movie to the judge in charge of this case. It is very difficult to
know what really happened in the forest since everyone who told the story had a different
version of what happened. I believe that the most accurate way to view this incident is with film
director Errol Morris‟ believe that the truth is objective and that there is only one possible truth
despite the many different ways a story was report reported.
A different view to the truth of what happened in the forest is that of Roger Ebert. He is
an American film critic, and views the truth as subjective. He believes that it is relative to the
person viewing it, therefore, in his opinion, what is true for one person, is not necessarily true for
another. This is supporter when he says, “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. They cannot talk about themselves without
embellishing‟” (Ebert).
Nevertheless, based on the views of Errol Morris, truth is objective and absolute,
regardless of any beliefs others may have on the matter. Although many people can have
opinions on a theory such as gravity, and if it is constant on this planet, there is only one truth,

2. whether we have already found it or not. Morris states this when tells The Believer in his
interview, “I do not believe that truth is subjective. Just thinking something does not make it so.
This idea that there is no reality, that truth is up for grabs, or that truth is subjective, I find foolish
and unappetizing.” (Morris). Furthermore, as Morris says in his interview, “there’s a different
thesis that I do believe very strongly. There is such a thing as truth,” and, “We may not have all
the evidence in hand in order to adjudicate the question, but underneath the question there‟s a
physical reality. I am a realist in that sense; I believe in the real world” (Morris). This supports
the idea that there can only be one truth and that it does not depend on anyone‟s beliefs because
those are only theories that cannot be supported since only the single truth can be supported.
According to Plato, K=JTB, in other words, knowledge can only be attained if we have a
true, justified belief. For something to be considered true, it must have always been true and it
must remain true indefinitely. However, in order to justify these beliefs, we must use different
ways of knowing (WoK). One of these ways of knowing is reason, it is a useful tool to use when
verifying theories. Using our previous knowledge and common sense to attempt to understand
new ideas is very important in situations such as courtroom trails like the one in Rashomon
because it helps one use logic to attain the truth and discover if something is in fact knowledge.
Another important way of knowing if something is true or false is for deciding who is to blame
in a case such as Rashomon is authority. Someone with authority is someone with knowledge in
a certain area. Although an authority figure is not always an accurate source, it is often reliable
due to the knowledge it is believed they hold. In court when witnesses are called in, they have a
sense of authority since they are the only ones who saw what transpired through their own way
of knowing, perception. If truth was subjective, then the evidence provided in the case in
Rashomon would be enough for that to be considered the truth. Nevertheless, despite the

3. different ways of knowing, and what may be widely accepted or agreed upon, as Errol Morris
stated, there is only one truth, and simply because an authority figure believes they saw someone
committing a crime, does not necessarily mean it is the truth about what happened.
Despite Ebert‟s argument, I believe that Morris‟ logic makes the most sense. Ebert
believes that the people telling the different versions of what happened in the forest are being
truthful in the sense that they are saying what they believe happened. However, with Morris‟
logic, even if they believe it is true because they believe that it can be considered knowledge, if
what they say is not what happened, then it is by definition, not true, and therefore they do not
have knowledge of this, what they claim is in fact false. In my opinion there is only one absolute
truth to what happened in the forest in the film Rashomon, and even though it is not revealed, it
does not mean that all the different speculations of what happened are true.

4. Works Cited
Poppy, Nick. “Errol Morris.” The Believer. The Believer, Apr. 2004. Web. 22 Feb. 2011.
<http://www.believermag.com/issues/200404/?read=interview_morris>.
“Rashomon (1950).” Roger Ebert. Sun Times, 26 May 2002. Web. 5 Mar. 2011.
<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20020526/REVIEWS08/205
260301/1023>.