Prudence is considered the measure of moral virtues since it provides a model of ethically good actions. âThe work of art is true and real by its correspondence with the pattern of its prototype in the mind of the artist.
Under common law, to constitute defamation, a claim must generally be false and must have been made to someone other than the person defamed. Some common law jurisdictions also distinguish between spoken defamation, called slander, and defamation in other media such as printed words or images, called libel.
Legal Definition of defamation. 1  1 : communication to third parties of false statements about a person that injure the reputation of or deter others from associating with that person â see also libel, slander, New York Times Co. v. Sullivan â compare disparagement, false light, slander of title.