Truth is in trouble. In response, this book presents a new conception of truth. It recognizes that prominent philosophers have questioned whether the idea of truth is important. Some have asked why we even need it. Their questions reinforce broader trends in Western society, where many wonder whether or why we should pursue truth. Indeed, some pundits say we have become a "post-truth" society. Yet there are good reasons not to embrace the cultural Zeitgeist or go with the philosophical flow, reasons to regard truth as a substantive and socially significant idea.

This book explains why. First it argues that propositional truth is only one kind of truth-an important kind, but not all important. Then it shows how propositional truth belongs to the more comprehensive process of truth as a whole. This process is a dynamic correlation between human fidelity to societal principles and a life-giving disclosure of society. The correlation comes to expression in distinct social domains of truth, where either propositional or nonpropositional truth is primary. The final chapters lay out five such domains: science, politics, art, religion, and philosophy. Anyone who cares about the future of truth in society will want to read this pathbreaking book.

About the Author

Lambert Zuidervaart is Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at the Institute for Christian Studies and at the University of Toronto. He is the author of eleven books, including Truth in Husserl, Heidegger, and the Frankfurt School (MIT Press, 2017), Art in Public: Politics, Economics, and a Democratic Culture (Cambridge UP, 2011), and Social Philosophy after Adorno (Cambridge UP, 2007). He has contributed to The Routledge Handbook of the Frankfurt School (2018), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2015), and journals like the European Journal of Philosophy, Telos, and Philosophy and Social Criticism.

Book Information
ISBN 9781032378039
Author Lambert Zuidervaart
Format Hardback
Page Count 324
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 553g