Leidsch Dagblad
- Opinion and truth
The selected opening records an academic succession and an inaugural address in Leiden. It identifies the new professor, his predecessor, teaching subjects and the lecture’s title. It does not reproduce the philosophical argument that follows, so the reading cannot attribute a theory of truth to De Graaf from the title alone.
“Meening en Waarheid” heading and opening paragraph near the bottom of the leftmost column only; the extended lecture report across subsequent columns is outside this excerpt.
Translation
Opinion and truth
This afternoon Professor Dr. H. T. de Graaf, appointed to succeed the late Professor Roessingh as professor of theology at the State University here, to lecture on the systematic survey of theology, philosophy of religion and ethics, took up his office with an address in the Academy’s Great Auditorium entitled “Opinion and Truth.”
Context
An inaugural lecture introduces a professorship
De Graaf’s address marked his formal assumption of a university chair. Naming both the auditorium and his predecessor places the event within an institutional succession. For the city’s newspaper, a new professor was therefore a public occasion, not just an internal change in staffing.
Theology included questions of knowledge and conduct
His subjects ranged from the organization of theological study to philosophy of religion and ethics. “Opinion and Truth” fits a chair concerned with how religious claims are understood and how judgments are justified. The breadth of the appointment helps explain why a philosophical title could introduce a theology professor.
A university rooted in the city’s history
Leiden University was founded in 1575. By 1926, its appointments belonged to a scholarly institution with centuries of local history. The newspaper’s precise naming of the chair and lecture shows the university continuing to form part of the city’s public life.
Original
Meening en Waarheid.
Hedenmiddag heeft prof. dr. H. T. de Graaf, als opvolger van wijlen prof. Roessingh benoemd tot hoogleeraar in de godgeleerdheid aan de Rijks-Universiteit alhier, om college’s te geven in de encyclopedie der godgeleerdheid, wijsbegeerte van den godsdienst en zedekunde, zijn ambt aanvaard met een rede in het Groot-Auditorium der Academie, getiteld: „Meening en Waarheid”.
Source: Source: Erfgoed Leiden en Omstreken (leiden.courant.nu)