Defending against it

If we want to fight post-truth effectively, it is not enough to engage in fact-checking and to complain about wide- spread lying; first of all, we must actively defend the institution of truth. We have to show that truth is not arbitrary and not a matter of interpretation, but that there are objec- tive truths.

Clarifying it…?

Perceptions of Truth and Objectivity

The objectivity, and subjectivity, of truth has been long debated by many stakeholders who seek to define a somewhat broad and nuanced term. Bernard & Ulatowski (2021) examine truth from the perspectives of philosophers in contrast to non-philosophers, and how these differences shape how people interpret the concept of truth. The authors found that individuals tend to endorse claims which coincide with the objectivity of truth, that not all conceptions of objectivity are equal, and that both philosophers and non-philosophers support the objectivity of truth although philosophers support it to a higher degree. These findings suggest that the perceptions of truth differ depending on the individual, and that there are multiple ways in which ‘truth’ can be categorized. There are many similarities between the ways philosophers and non-philosophers categorize the truth, however there are many ways that they differ (Bernard & Ulatowski, 2021). Objectivity is noted to be an important aspect to how ordinary people think about the truth, with the truth requiring facts in addition to not being a matter of agreement.

Fake news is a prime example of how perceptions of truth may be more important to individuals that the objective truth. While it is very beneficial to increase people’s awareness when combating fake news, it can still influence its readers even if the reader knows that the claims presented are false (Jost et al., 2020). Sometimes the most crucial aspect to truth is not the actual objective truth itself, but rather how the truth is spread, manipulated, and perceived. It is important to ponder questions of where these truths come from, who they serve, and to determine whether or not claims are credible.

In the digital age, the truth and its relation to objectivity are crucial to individual’s perceptions of reality. For example, through the COVID-19 pandemic people were presented with information online and would then create a synthesis of the most relevant and obvious support for the “official truth” (Sîmbotin, 2021, p. 251). Additionally, the presentation of truths contributes to how they are perceived, perhaps there is parts of information which holds great emphasis (or lack thereof) which skews how people intake it. All of these factors contribute to how people form their own perceptions of the truth, including how they define the truth in general.

[RL]

References

Barnard, R., & Ulatowski, J. (2021). The objectivity of truth, a core truism? Synthese

(Dordrecht), 198(Suppl 2), 717–733. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-017-1605-7

Jost, P. J., Pünder, J., & Schulze-Lohoff, I. (2020). Fake news – Does perception matter more

than the truth? Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 85, 101513-.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2020.101513

Sîmbotin, D. G. (2021). The E-truth. Changes in the Perception of Truth under the Impact of

Cyberspace. Brain. Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience, 12(2),

247–253. https://doi.org/10.18662/brain/12.2/203